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THE BUILDERS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. Biographical 

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First Series. — Contains such as were bom prior to 1826. 
Second Series. — Contains those born since. 



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THE BUILDERS 



OF 



AMERICAN LITERATURE 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF AMERICAN 
AUTHORS BORN PREVIOUS TO 1826 



FRANCIS H. UNDERWOOD LL.D. 

^^. 

AUTHOR OK "qUABBIN" "HANDBOOKS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE" 
"the poet AND THE MAN " " MAN PROPOSES" 

I "lord of himself" etc. 



iFi'rst Series 



BOSTON ^^ 

LEE AND SHEPARD Publisher/ 

10 MILK STREET 
1893 



, // 



"f6 






Copyright, 1893, 
By Lee and Shepard. 



All rights reserved. 

Builders of American Literature 
First Series 



^niijcrsttg Press: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 



r 



in 



i^ 



TO 

WILLARD SMALL 

IN TOKEN OF RESPECT FOR HIS CHARACTER, TALENT, 
AND LEARNING. 



PREFACE. 



T 



HIS is a new book, written in the light of to-day, 
with the added experience of twenty years, — in 
which, however, certain obvious and unchanged judg- 
ments, copied from a former work, are incorporated. 

In 1870-1872 were pubhshed two *' Hand-Books 
of English Literature," prepared by the author of this 
^vork, — one of them devoted to British, the other to 
American, authors. They were welcomed by school- 
committees, teachers, and the reading public, and 
have continued in favor. They were made up of 
short biographical and critical notices of authors, 
with specimens of the writings of each. At present 
in some places, especially in cities, and in institutions 
of the higher grades, when an author is studied it is 
usual to consider his complete, or at least some one 
of his principal, Works rather than to depend upon 
selected passages. Where this usage prevails, the 
"Hand-Book" is wanted only for the prefatory 
notices. As these notices have been generally and 
warmly commended, it was felt that they should be 



VI PREFACE. 

collected, and made to include later writers, so as to 
form a work for use in schools and libraries, as well 
as for private readers. It was determined, therefore, 
to revise these notices and to make a fuller collec- 
tion, without specimens of style ; but it was soon 
found that it would require two volumes of con- 
venient size to give a fair estimation of authors up 
to date. This volume, therefore, ends with authors 
born before 1826. 

In the course of twenty years some changes have 
occurred in literary rank and reputation, as well as in 
the public taste, and, naturally, some in the writer's 
own mind. The '' Hand-Book " contains some authors 
who were primarily statesmen, and not literary 
builders, who are therefore omitted from this work. 
Some few able writers who before were passed by 
are now included. The critical estimates have all 
been reconsidered, and most of them are newly 
written. In some there will be seen a fuller or 
warmer appreciation than before ; in others the tone 
is cooler and more judicial. The literary firmament 
does not remain the same from age to age: some 
stars grow brighter, while others are becoming dim. 

As in the case of the brief sketches, the Historical 
Introduction, copied in part from the former '* Hand- 
Book," has been newly written in view of the ideas 
and tastes of to-day. 

There may be exceptions taken as to some of the 
literary estimates in this work, for no one mind is 



PREFACE. Vil 

equal to the task of awarding exact justice to so 
many different authors as are here considered. The 
reader will soon recognize the notions and tastes of 
the writer in regard to the excellences of prose, 
and to the divine qualities of poetry. Upon the 
substantial agreement of those notions with the 
trained perceptions and judgments of the literary 
world will depend the reception of this book. 

The accounts of our elder authors — to use a 
mercantile phrase — have been generally passed 
upon, and not many of them are likely to be brought 
up anew. Some of them, undoubtedly, will in the 
course of another twenty years be mere names, while 
a few will continue to gain in lustre. In the end a 
dozen, or at most a score, of authors will represent 
this age. 

It is in the next volume, which is to comprise 
authors born in and since 1826, that the real diffi- 
culty is to come. Fiction, poetry, history. Nature- 
essays, and the aesthetic aspects of science will 
demand of their critic fresh studies, will open before 
him new horizons, and lead to the evolution of new 
principles. For our age has almost completely 
broken with the past : the end of the century will 
be the end of continuity. What the next is to bring 
we cannot tell ; but whatever comes will be a sur- 
prise. There will be no successor to the Autocrat, 
the "Scarlet Letter," the "Knickerbocker," " Than- 
atopsis," " The Problem," " Hiawatha," " Walden 



Vlll PREFACE. 

Pond," ''The Eternal Goodness," ''The Cathedral," 
*' Philip II." "The Dutch Republic," or "Wolfe and 
Montcalm." These, and a few works like them, 
have eternal elements in them, though they belong 
to the age now closing. Let us hope that the out- 
come of the literary activity of the coming generation 
will be as honorable, as uplifting, and as lasting as 
that of the past has been. 

F. H. U, 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION i 

Jonathan Edwards. Theologian, 1703- 17 58 40 

Benjamin Franklin. Philosopher, 1 706-1 790 44 

John Adams. Statesman, 1735-1826 47 

Thomas Jefferson. Statesman, 1 743-1826 ....... 49 

John Trumbull. Poet, 1750-1831 51 

Timothy Dwight. Poet, 1752-1817 52 

Joel Barlow. Poet, 1755-1S12 53 

Alexander Hamilton. Statesman, 17 57-1 804 55 

Fisher Ames. Jurist and Essayist, 1758-1808 57 

JosiAH Quincy. Statesman and Historian, 1772-1864 ... 59 

William Wirt. Advocate, 1772-1834 60 

James Kirke Paulding. Novelist, 1779-1860 62 

Washington Allston. Poet, 1779-1843 64 

John James Audubon. Naturalist, 1780-185 1 66 

William Ellery Channing. Theologian and Essayist, 1780- 

1842 67 

Daniel Webster. Statesman, 1 782-1852 69 

Washington Irving. Essayist, 1783-1S59 y^ 

John Pierpont. Poet, 1785-1866 78 

Richard Henry Dana. Poet, 1787- 1879 81 



CONTEiNTS. 



James Fenimore Cooper. Novelist, 17S9--1S51 . 
Catharine M. Sedgwick. Novelist, 1 789-1867 . 
Lydia (Huntley) Sigourney. Poet, 1791-1S65 . 

Charles Sprague. Poet, 1791-1875 

William Cullen Bryant. Poet, 1794-1878 . . 
Edward Everett. Orator, 1 794-1865 .... 
Joseph Rodman Drake. Poet, 1 795-1820 . . . 
Fitz-Greene Halleck. Poet, 1795-1867 . . . 
John Pendleton Kennedy. Novelist, 1795-1870 
James Gates Percival. Poet, 1 795-1857 • • • 
John Gorham Palfrey. Historian, 1796-188 1 ; 

Horace Mann. Educator, 1796-1859 

William Hickling Prescott. Historian, 1 796-1859 
Francis Wayland. Preacher, 1796-1865 . . , 
William Ware. Historical Romancer, 1 797-1 852 
George Bancroft. Historian, 1800-1891 . . , 
George Perkins Marsh. Philologist, 1801-18S2 
Theodore Dwight Woolsey. Preacher, 1801-1S89 
Horace Bushnell. Preacher, 1S02-1876 .... 
Mark PTopkins. Theologian, 1802-1887 .... 
Lydia Maria Child. Novelist, 1802-1880 . . . , 
Ralph Waldo Emerson. Poet and Essayist, 1803-1882 
Orestes Augustus Brownson. Theologian, 1803-1S76 
Robert Montgomery Bird. Novelist, 1803- 1854 . 
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Romancer, 1804-1864 
Frederic Henry Hedge. Scholar, 1805-1890 . . 
William Gilmore Sjmms. Novelist, 1806-1870 . . 
Henry Wadsworiii Longfellow. Poet, 1S07-1SS2 



Page 
82 

85 
86 

87 
88 

91 
95 
96 

97 
98 
100 
102 
103 
106 
107 
108 
112 
113 
"5 
117 
118 
120 

125 
126 
127 
131 
133 
135 



CONTENTS. XI 

Page 

Nathaniel Parker Willis. Poet, 1807-1S67 ... .140 

John Greenleaf Whittier. Poet, 1807-1892 143 

Richard Hildreth. Historian, 1807-1865 147 

Edmund Quincy. Reformer, 180S-1877 149 

George Still.man Hillard. Essayist, 1808-1S79 . • . . 150 

Edwards A. Park. Preacher, 1808 151 

Oliver Wendell Holmes. Poet, Essayist, and Novelist, 1809 152 

Robert Charles Winthrop, Statesman, 1809 157 

James Freeman Clarke. Theologian, 1810-1S88 .... 159 

Margaret Fuller. Critic, iSio-1850 161 

Theodore Parker. Theologian, 1810-1860 164 

Edgar Allan Poe. Poet, 1811-1849 167 

George Washington Greene. Historian, 181 1-1883 . . 171 

Alfred Billings Street. Poet, 181 1-18S1 172 

Noah Porter. Metaphysician, 1811-1886 174 

Wendell Phillips. Orator, 1811-18S4 175- 

Charles Sumner. Statesman, 1811-1874 178 

Andrew Preston Peabody. Preacher, 1811-1893 .... 181 

John William Draper. Scientist, 1811-1882 183 

Harriet Beecher Stowe. Novelist, 1812 184 

Chrlstopher Pearse Cranch. Poet, 1813-1892 .... 187 

Henry Ward Beecher. Preacher, 1813-1S87 189 

John Sullivan D wight. Essayist, 1813 ...... 192 

Charles Timothy Brooks, Poet, 1813-1883 194 

Sylvester Judd. Novelist, 1813-1853 195 

Henry Theodore Tuckerman. Critic, 1813-1871 .... 197 

Epes Sargent. Dramatist and Editor, 1813-1880 .... 199 

John Lothrop Motley. Historian, 1814-1877 ..... 201 



XII CONTENTS. 

Page 

George Edward Ellis. Historical writer, 1814 .... 205 

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Jurist, etc., 1815-1882 .... 207 

John Godfrey Saxe. Poet, 1816-1887 209 

Parke Godwin. Essayist, 1816 ........... 210 

Robert Traill Spence Lowell. Novelist and Poet, 1816- 

1891 211 

Henry David Thoreau. Essayist, 1817-1862 213 

James ThOxMas Fields, Editor and Poet, 181 7-1 881 . , . 217 

James Russell Lowell. Poet and Essayist, 18 19- 1891 . . 218 

William Wetmore Story. Poet, 1S19 225 

Edwin Percy Whipple. Critic, 1819-1886 227 

Julia Ward Howe. Poet, 1819 „ 228 

Thomas William Parsons. Poet, 1819-1892 ..... 230 

Josiah Gilbert Holland. Novelist and Poet, 1S19-1881 . 231 

Herman Melville. Traveller, 1819-1891 233 

Walt Whitman. Poet, 18 19-1892 .......... 235 

Alice Gary. Poet, 1820-187 1 ........... 238 

James Parton. Biographer, 1822 239 

Edward Everett Hale. Historian and Story Writer, 1822 243 

Thomas Buchanan Read. Poet, 1822-1872 ...... 245 

Richard Grant White. Editor of Shakespeare, 1822-1885 247 

Donald Grant Mitchell. Essayist, 1822 248 

OcTAVius Brooks Frothingham. Essayist and Biographer, 

1822 250 

Francis Parkman. Historian, 1823 ......... 252 

George Hp:nry Boker. Poet, 1823-1890 . 255 

William Rounseville Alger. Preacher and Essayist, 1823 256 

Thomas Wentworth Higginsun. Essayist, 1823 .... 259 



CONTENTS. Xlii 

Page 

George William Curtis. Essayist, 1824-1892 261 

Charles Godfrey Leland. Translator, Humorist, etc., 1824 264 

William T. Adams. Author of Juvenile Novels, 1822 . . . 266 

Benjamin West Ball. Poet, 1823 269 

Adeline D. T. Whitney. Novelist, 1824 272 

Thomas Starr King. Preacher, 1824-1864 273 

Bayard Taylor. Traveller and Poet, 1825-1877 275 

Julia Caroline Ripley Dorr. Poet and Novelist, 1S25 . 279 

John Williamson Palmer. Traveller, 1825 . . c = . . 281 

Richard Henry Stoddard. Poet, 1825 ....... 283 



ADDENDA . 285 

INDEX .,,..„ o .,,.....,.. 301 



THE BUILDERS 



OF 



AMERICAN LITERATURE. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

THE history of literature in the United States 
is naturally divided into three periods, corre- 
sponding with the various stages of the political, com- 
mercial, and social progress of the country: i. The 
Colonial period, from the first settlements to near the 
middle of the eighteenth century. 2. The Revolu- 
tionary period, from the first awakening of the spirit 
of independence to the successful issue of the struggle 
and the peaceful close of the administration of Wash- 
ington. 3. The period of national development in 
which we are now living. 

For many and obvious reasons the Colonial period 
was not favorable to literature. All the energies of 
the early settlers were taxed to establish comfortable 
homes, meetinghouses, and school-houses; to secure 
the means of subsistence, and to protect themselves 
from hostile savages. 

For the beginnings we must look to Massachusetts ; 
the conditions in the other colonies will be referred 



2 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

to later. The few letters sent to friends in Old Eng- 
land, the preachers' occasional discourses, and the 
homely annals kept by secretaries and magistrates 
were the principal intellectual performances for a 
generation. Not that there was any lack of ability 
and learning, — the settlers of Boston in particular 
included many well-educated men ; but only the clergy 
had leisure for literary culture, and they were, for the 
most part, so occupied with the duties of their calling 
that they wrote few books of general interest. It was 
truly a " church militant" that ruled in New England. 
Controversy was the means and end of education. 
The- feet of the doubter or debater (on the wrong 
side) were sooner or later made acquainted with the 
stocks, or with the lonely ways that led into the un- 
pitying wilderness, or to the haunts of the white 
man's mortal foe. 

The department of dramatic literature, at that time 
the most prolific of any in the language, was avoided 
and reprobated by the Puritans. The stage was re- 
garded as unchristian, and all its literature was under 
ban. Prose fiction had not then been created ; science 
was but just dawning, and the powerful influence it 
was to exert on letters was then unsuspected. A little 
reflection will show that these causes were sufficient 
to confine the efforts of writers in a comparatively 
narrow compass; and it is not to be forgotten that 
religion had a constant and an overwhelming interest, 
especially with educated men, so that all other topics 
seemed trivial and barren in comparison. 

Therefore let us be just to the memory of the 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 3 

fathers of Massachusetts. They had their task, and 
they accomphshed it. Let us own that the very 
unloveHness of their temper, the severity of their 
disciphne, and their disdain of sentiment were indis- 
pensable to the great work of founding the colonies 
on an enduring basis ; and that if they had come here 
to indite poems and romances, to dream of Utopias 
and Arcadias, and to dance around Maypoles, their 
mention in history would have been a brief one, and 
their place in the respect of mankind far different 
from what it now is. 

There were other influences unfavorable to the 
growth of literature, which affected not only New 
England, but the other colonies as well. There were 
few libraries, scanty means for the communication of 
ideas, and a want of literary centres. These indis- 
pensable conditions could come only with the accu- 
mulation of wealth, the establishment of social order, 
and the opportunity for leisure. But the greatest 
obstacle was in the very condition of the people as 
colonists. They were Englishmen, but without a 
country. They had left the society, traditions, and 
history which made them proud of their lineage, and 
they had nothing, so far, as a substitute for these 
sources of inspiration. 

Our early literature is interesting only to antiqua- 
rians and students of church history; there were few 
books written in America during the seventeenth 
century which the readers of our day, especially the 
younger ones, would peruse, except as a task. This 
is set down with a knowledge of the value of Win- 



4 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

throp's Journal and Letters, of Bradford's History of 
the Plymouth Colony, of Wood's New England Pros- 
pect, of Cotton Mather's laborious ecclesiastical his- 
tory, of Ward's quaint pamphlet, and some other 
works, as foundations. 

The first book printed in America was the Bay 
Psalm Book, compiled by the apostle Eliot, aided by 
Rev. Richard Mather and Rev. Thomas Weld. The 
work was done by Stephen Daye, in 1640, at Cam- 
bridge, on a press set up in the house of the college 
president. He was remembered for his work by the 
government. In the Records of the Colony, De- 
cember, 1641, may be seen an order in these words: 
" Stephen Daye, being the first that set upon print- 
ing, is allowed three hundred acres of land where it 
may be convenient, without prejudice to any town." 
Not much can be said in favor of the poetry of the 
Bay Psalm Book. The verses have but little grace, 
and less melody. As a sample of 

" The stretched metre of an antique song," 

we give some lines, in which David bewails his deso- 
Jate condition : — 

(From Psalm Ixxxviii.) 

Thy fierce wrath over mee cloth goe, 
thy terrors they doe mee difmay, 
EncompalTe mee about they doe, 
clofe mee together all the day. 
Lover & friend a far thou haft 
removed off away from mee, 
^z mine acquaintance thou haft caft 
into darkfom obfcuritee. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 5 

(From Psalm civ ) 

For beafts hee makes the graffe to grow, 

herbs alfo for mans good : 

that hee may bring out of the earth 

what may be for their food : 

Wine alfo that mans heart may glad, 

& oyle their face to bright : 

and bread which to the heart of man 

may it fupply with might. 

Gods trees are fappy : his planted 

Cedars of Lebanon : 

Where birds doe neft : as for the Storke, 

Firres are her manfion. 

The wilde Goates refuge are the hills : 

rocks Conies doe inclofe. 

The Moone hee hath for feafons fet, 

the Sun his fetting knows. 

Not more than half a dozen copies of the original 
edition of this book are known to be extant. 

The Journal and Letters of Governor Winthrop are 
more interesting in matter and more simple and effec- 
tive in manner than any works that have been pre- 
served of this period. The Journal is at once a 
history of the church, town, and colony. We give, 
in modern spelling, a short specimen from his de- 
fence, made after the election of Governor Thomas 
Dudley: — 

*' The great questions that have troubled the coun- 
try are about the authority of the magistrates and the 
liberty of the people. It is yourselves that have 
called us to this office; and, being called by you, we 
have our authority from God, in the way of an ordi- 
nance such as hath the image of God eminently 



6 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

stamped upon it, the contempt and violation whereof 
hath been vindicated with examples of divine ven- 
geance. I entreat you to consider, that when you 
choose magistrates you take them from among your- 
selves, men subject to like passions as you are. 
Therefore when you see infirmities in us you should 
reflect upon your own ; and that would make you 
bear the more with us, and not be severe censurers 
of the failings of your magistrates when you have 
continual experience of the like infirmities in your- 
selves and others." 

His letters contain many beautiful passages. We 
print an extract from his farewell to his wife, when 
about starting to this country: — 

** It goeth very near my heart to leave thee ; but I 
know to whom I have committed thee, even to him 
who loves thee much better than any husband can ; 
who hath taken account of the hairs of thy head, and 
puts all thy tears in his bottle ; who can, and (if it be 
for his glory) will, bring us together again with peace 
and comfort. Oh how it refresheth my heart to think 
that I shall yet again see thy sweet face in the land of 
the living, — that lovely countenance that I have so 
much delighted in and beheld with so great content ! 
. . . Yet if all these hopes should fail, blessed be our 
God that we are assured we shall meet one day, if 
not as husband and wife, yet in a better condition. 
Let that stay and comfort thy heart. Neither can 
the sea drown thy husband, nor enemies destroy, nor 
any adversity deprive thee of thy husband or children. 
Therefore I will only take thee now and my sweet 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. J 

children in mine arms, and kiss and embrace you all, 
and so leave you with my God. Farewell ! farewell ! " 

The " Simple Cobler of Aggawam," by the Rev. 
Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, written in 1645, ^"d 
printed in London in 1647, is a production very char- 
acteristic of the times. It contains a satire upon the 
prevailing extravagance of women's dress (a theme 
not wholly obsolete yet), a furious attack upon the 
toleration of theological errors, some counsel to the 
Englisli people upon the civil war then beginning, two 
or three vigorous and sensible letters to King Charles 
I., and various shots at the Baptists and lesser secta- 
ries that disturbed the serenity of the colony. This 
is a sentence of his upon allowing freedom of reli- 
gious opinions : — 

" I dare averre that God doth no where in his 
word tolerate Christian States to give Tolerations to 
such adversaries of his Truth, if they have power in 
their hands to suppresse them." 

Here is another sentence in the author's favorite 
style: " Truth does not grow old {non sencscit Veri- 
tas). No man ever saw a gray hair on the head or 
beard of any Truth, wa'inkle or morphew on its face; 
the bed of Truth is green all the year long." 

The title of the ''Simple Cobler" is a misnomer, 
for the author is neither simple nor amusing, but is 
painfully pedantic ; his sentences are crammed with 
Latin, and he delights in barbarous words of his own 
coining. In striving for wit he seldom gets further 
than a play upon words. For example, read the 
following : — 



8 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

** It is a more common than convenient saying, 
that nine Taylors make a man ; it were well if nine- 
teene could make a woman to her minde : if Taylors 
were men indeed, well furnished but with meer morall 
principles, the'y would disdain to be led about like 
Apes by such mymick Marmosets. It is a most un- 
worthy thing for men that have bones in them to 
spend their lives in making fidle-cases for futilous 
women's phansies, which are the very pettitoes of in- 
firmity, the gyblets of perquisquilian toyes/' 

But in spite of all these evident blemishes, the 
" Simple Cobler " was a vigorous writer, with a power 
of clear statement, and no lack of forcible illustration. 
One of his sentences shows that he appreciated the 
critic's function. In these days, when the bobolink 
is reproached because it is not an eagle, it may not 
be amiss to quote : " It is musick to me to heare 
every Dity speak its spirit in its apt tune, every 
breast to sing its proper part, and every creature to 
expresse itself in its naturall note; should I heare a 
Mouse roare like a Beare, a Cat lowgh like an Oxe, 
or a Horse whistle like a Redbreast, it would scare — 
mee." 

Misstress Anne Bradstrect, daughter of Gov. 
Thomas Dudley, and wife of Simon Bradstreet, secre- 
tary of the colony, wrote a volume of poems that was 
printed in 1 647, and seems to have excited great ad- 
miration. Mrs. Bradstreet was a learned woman, and 
appears to have aimed at putting a compendium of 
what was known of history, philosophy, and religion 
into ten-syllabled verse. First comes a dialogue be- 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 9 

tween " the four elements " personified, — Earth, Air, 
Fire, and Water; next, one between "the four hu- 
mors " in the constitution of man, — Choler, Blood, 
Melancholy, and Phlegm. Then appear " the four 
ages of man," " the four seasons of the year," and 
" the four monarchies of the world " (the Assyrian, 
Persian, Grecian, and Roman). New and Old Eng- 
land next discourse together upon the civil war then 
arising between the king and the Commons; and then 
a collection of elegies and epitaphs ends the book. 

It would seem that some discussion had taken 
place, even at that early day, upon the proper sphere 
of woman, for Mistress Anne says : — 

" I am obnoxious to each carping tongue 
Who says my hand a needle better fits. 
A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong, 

For such despite they cast on Female wits : 
If what I do prove well, it won't advance. 
They'll say it 's stol'n, or else it was by chance." 

We print a few lines from " An Elegie upon that 
Honourable and renowned Knight, Sir Philip Sidney, 
who was untimely slain at the Siege of Zutphen, 
Anno 1586": — 

"When England did enjoy her Halsion dayes, 
Her noble Sidney wore the Crown of Bayes : 
As well an honour to our British Land 
As she that sway'd the scepter with her hand. 
Mars and Minerva did in one agree, 
Of Arms and Arts he should a pattern be ; 
Calliope with Terpsichore did sing, 
Of Poesie and of Musick he was King. 



lO HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

O brave Achilles, I wish some Ho?ne?' wouldi 
Engrave in Marble with Characters of gold 
The valiant feats thou didst on Flander's coast, 
Which at this day fair Belgia may boast. 
The more I say the more thy worth I stain, 
Thy fame and praise are far beyond my strain. 
O ZiitpJiefi, Zutphen, that most fatal city, 
Made famous by thy death, much more the pity: 
Ah, in his blooming prime death pluckt this rose. 
Ere he was ripe his thread cut Atroposy 

It is quite needless to observe that Mrs. Bradstreet's 
poems are rather hard reading, and that the patient 
gleaner will find few blossoms among all the briery 
sheaves. 

Let us turn to a great name in New England his- 
tory, — to Cotton Mather, who above all men was an 
epitome of the learning, the theological subtilty, the 
political opinions, and the credulity of the age. His 
family might almost be called Levitical, since ten 
members of it within three generations were settled 
ministers of the gospel in Massachusetts. He was 
the son of a venerated clergyman, and may be said to 
have had his nurture and training in the sanctuary. 
His industry as a writer was amazing, his published 
works- — chiefly sermons and memoirs — being three 
hundred and eighty-two in number. His principal 
work is commonly called the ''Magnalia; " its full 
title is " Magnalia Christi Americana," the meaning 
of which is best expressed by a paraphrase, — "the 
great things wrought by Christ for the American 

^ The rhyme would seem to indicate that the sound of / in 
" would " had not then become wholly silent. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. I I 

church." It contains a detailed account of the settle- 
ment of the New England colonies ; lives of the gov- 
ernors, other magistrates, and clergy ; the principal 
events in the Indian and French wars ; a treatise upon 
special providences, including a great number of ac- 
counts of God's judgments by shipwreck, lightning, 
and sudden death; and narratives of the trials for 
witchcraft in Salem and elsewhere. 

The general tone of the work makes a painful im- 
pression upon the mind; nor is the pervading gloom 
relieved by the intended amenities of style. Scraps 
of Latin, Greek, or Hebrew are set in nearly every 
page. Quotations of heathen poetry are forced into 
unhappy association with polemical theology, in a 
way almost to recall Virgil and his fellow Romans 
from the shades to claim their own ; and the narra- 
tion, though intelligible enough, often hobbles along 
until the reader fancies himself jolting over some of 
the dreadful roads that crossed the ancient wilderness. 
After the fashion of the time, Mather indulges in 
never-ending quibbles and puns. In his controversy 
with Mr. Calef, he must shorten his name to calf. In 
mentioning President Oakes, he hopes that gentleman 
will be transplanted to the heavenly pasture, and he 
speaks of the students under him as young Druids. 
Three clergymen came over in the same vessel, 
named Cotton, Hooker, and Stone. Mather said the 
people had now something for each of their three 
great necessities, — Cottoft for their clothing. Hooker 
for their fishing, and Stone for their building. Later 
on he calls the latter a gem, then a Jlifit, and then a 



12 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

loadstone. In the epitaph upon Francis Higginson, 
the passer-by is admonished to be of this order of 
Franciscans. In the hfe of Ralph Partridge, we see 
him hunted by Episcopal beak and claw upon the 
mountains until he makes a flight to America. 

As Cotton Mather was a man of uncommon ability 
and learning, it is a matter of some difficulty to state 
the reasons why he occupies a place so much lower 
in literary than in ecclesiastical annals. What is said 
of him will apply, with some qualification, to other 
writers of his time. Parables, emblems, and meta- 
phors were the prevailing fashion, both in England 
and America. To use this pictorial style effectively 
and with taste requires an instinctive judgment and 
sense of the fitness of things which few men in a gen- 
eration possess. Speakers and writers who are in 
the habit of employing figurative language are apt 
to leave sentences with lame conclusions, because it 
is not every illustration that can be carried out to a 
symmetrical close. The image that rises to the mind 
is often like that seen by the prophet in vision, of 
which though the countenance was golden, the feet 
were of clay. 

Michael Wigglesworth was the author of" The Day 
of Doom," or a Poetical Description of the Great and 
East Judgment, with a short Discourse about Eter- . 
nity, and other pieces. This work was very success- 
ful at the time, owing more to the subject and to the 
religious character of the colonists than to the merit 
of the verses. The style is rugged and tasteless, and 
if we should give any specimens, even the best, it 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 13 

might be considered as tending to bring sacred things 
into ridicule. 

Wood's "New England Prospect" is a lively de- 
scription of the country and its resources, written in 
both prose and verse. It hardly belongs to our litera- 
ture, as the author printed it in London in 1634, after a 
very brief residence in the colony, and it is doubtful 
whether he ever returned here. 

There were many learned and able men among the 
New England clergy, — such as Thomas Hooker, 
Thorhas Shepard, John Eliot, and John Cotton ; but 
their works belong to the history of theology. 

The Plymouth Colony was even less fruitful in lit- 
erature than the Colony of the Bay. The latter had 
a very large number of graduates of old Cambridge 
and Oxford among its magistrates and clergy. But 
if the settlers of Plymouth were less educated, they 
were more tolerant, charitable, and amiable. The 
annals of the Old Colony were written by its gover- 
nor, William Bradford ; later, Nathaniel Morton wrote 
" New England's Memorial," based on Bradford's His- 
tory, and including contemporary elegies and anec- 
dotes. Roger Williams, who has the honor of being 
the first advocate of liberty of conscience, at least in 
America, was the author of controversial tracts only. 

The peculiar genius of the Puritans seems to have 
attained its highest development in Jonathan Edwards, 
who was born in East Windsor, Conn., in 1703, grad- 
uated at Yale College, and settled as preacher in 
Northampton, Mass. He was an original metaphysi- 
cian, equal in sustained power and in clear-sightedness 



14 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

to any modern investigator. His works are master- 
pieces of abstract reasoning, written for thinkers, and 
are as abstruse and technical as treatises upon the 
higher mathematics. 

Thomas Hutchinson was the author of a History of 
Massachusetts during the period from 1620 to 1691, 
— a very well written, and in the main trustworthy, 
work. It was based upon original memoirs, and is 
regarded as an authority; but, further than that, it 
calls for no special mention. 

In any just account of our literature, the influence 
of Harvard College must have a prominent place. 
Founded in 1636 as a seminary for religious teachers, 
it shared the poverty of the New England colonies in 
their day of small things ; but it grew with their 
growth, and was ready to act its part on the larger 
field which spread with the increase of wealth and 
the demand for higher culture. For the first cen- 
tury its standard of scholarship was not very high, 
but its influence was constant and cumulative. 
By the end of the eighteenth century there was an 
army of its graduates in the learned professions, 
and every one communicated something of the 
spirit of his alma mater to the society of his neigh- 
borhood. Later came Yale, William and Mary, 
Princeton, and Union colleges, all centres of active 
influences. 

The literary history of the Colony of Virginia does 
net begin until a later period. The story of its dis- 
covery and early settlement was written by the famous 
Captain John Smith, who was not permanently identi- 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. I 5 

fied with its interests, but returned to England. A 
few expatriated Englishmen of a classical turn amused 
themselves by making Latin translations, which after- 
ward appeared in London ; but there was no printing- 
press to strike off, no booksellers to publish, no 
public to read or enjoy literature, in Virginia. Ban- 
croft, under the date of 1674, says: " The generation 
now in existence were chiefly the fruit of the soil; 
they were children of the woods, nurtured in the 
freedom of the wilderness, and dwelling in lonely 
cottages, scattered along the streams. No news- 
papers entered their houses; no printing-press fur- 
nished them a book. They had no recreations but 
such as Nature provides in her wilds, no education 
but such as parents in the desert could give their 
offspring." 

Elsewhere the historian mentions the boast of the 
governor. Sir William Berkeley, that there was not a 
printing-press in all Virginia. 

In Pennsylvania there was liberty of the press, but 
the influence of Quakerism was even less favorable 
to literature than Puritanism had been. And, besides, 
there was no college like Harvard in Penn's otherwise 
thriving colony. 

In New York the mixed origin of the people, the 
succession of conflicting governments, and other cir- 
cumstances, kept back the development of literature 
until a much later period. 

With the growing discontent of the colonies, the 
literature of the eighteenth century began to assume 
a new phase. Those who were engaged in manufac- 



l6 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

tares and commerce began to demand freedom of 
action. Tlie clergy, except the members of the 
EngHsh Church, were universally active in resisting 
the royal claims over the colonies. The sense of 
wrong indited petitions to Parliament, and stimulated 
discussion upon the duties of rulers and the rights 
of their subjects. Slowly new theories were evolved. 
Some thinkers, like Jefferson and Paine, had pondered 
over the doctrines of Rousseau and other French phil- 
osophers. Others, like Franklin, Ouincy, Otis, and the 
Adamses, had been applying the reasoning of Hamp- 
den and the English patriots to the case of the colo- 
nies. It was a period of great intellectual activity, 
but of activity directed exclusively to one subject. 
Of general literature, whether history, essay, poem, 
or story, the country was almost barren. Besides the 
works of a few well-known writers, and the printed 
sermons (of vvhich great numbers doubtless remain 
in country parsonages for future explorers), the intel- 
lectual efforts of the period were entirely ephemeral. 
No report has been preserved of the powerful argu- 
ments of John Adams, or of the brilliant speeches of 
James Otis; and the traditional eloquence of Patrick 
Henry lives only in imperfect fragments. The energies 
of men were spent in action. The fancies of the 
poet and the arts of the rhetorician were laid aside 
with the scholar's gown. Men lived poems, radiated 
eloquence, and exemplified philosophy. 

The cause of liberty in America was indebted 
probably more to Thomas Paine than to any writer of 
the time. His " Common Sense," which was pub- 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 17 

lished in January, 1776, says Dr. Rush, *' burst upon 
the world with an effect which has rarely been pro- 
duced by types and paper in any age or country." 
In December of the same year, when the utmost 
depression prevailed, the first number of his " Crisis " 
appeared. The first sentence has been " familiar in 
, our mouths as household words" ever since: *' These 
are the times that try men's souls." This was read at 
the head of every regiment, and revived the drooping 
spirits of the troops. The impartial historian must 
declare that liberty owes nearly as much to the cour- 
ageous advocacy of Paine as to the military services 
of Washington. 

Unless we feel an interest in the causes that led to 
the Revolutionary War, and in the arguments by 
which the patriotic fathers upheld their action, we 
shall not need to dwell long on this period. As in all 
times of excitement, ballads, songs, and versified 
gibes were abundant, and those who are fond of this 
species of literature will find a collection of them 
in Duyckinck's Cyclopedia. Besides these, there 
were the verses of Phillis Wheatley, a negro woman, 
sold as a slave, and educated in Boston, — verses that 
were remarkable considering the birth and education 
of the author, but of little positive value to-day. 
There was one other author who has some claims up- 
on our consideration, — Philip Freneau. He was an 
active, not to say virulent, political writer, and the 
author of many poems. His prose works are no 
longer interesting, and his poems have been so com- 
pletely eclipsed in later times that they are seldom 



1 8 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

read. The '* Indian Burying Ground " contains the 
best Unes we have been able to find in his poems: 

In spite of all the harned have said, 

I still my old opinion keep : 
The posture that we give the dead 

Points out the soul's eternal sleep. 

Not so the ancients of these lands ; 

The Indian, when from life released, 
Again is seated with his friends, 

And shares again the joyous feast. 

His imaged birds and painted bowl. 
And venison for a journey drest, 

Bespeak the nature of the soul, 
Activity that wants no rest. 

His bow for action ready bent, 
And arrows, with a head of bone. 

Can only mean that Hfe is spent. 
And not the finer essence gone. 

Thou, stranger, that shalt come this way, 
No fraud upon the dead commit ; 

Yet mark the swelling turf and say, 
They do not lie, but here they sit. 

Here still a lofty rock remains, 
On which the curious eye may trace 

(Now wasted half by wearing rains) 
The fancies of a ruder race. 

Here still an aged elm aspires, 

Beneath whose far projecting shade 

(And which the shepherd still admires) 
The children of the forest played. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 19 

There oft a restless Indian queen 
(Pale Marian with her braided hair) 

And many a barbarous form is seen 
To chide the man that lingers there. 

By midnight moons, o'er moistening dews, 
In vestments for the chase arrayed. 

The hunter still the deer pursues, 
The hunter and the deer — a shade. 

And long shall timorous Fancy see 
The painted chief and pointed spear, 

And reason's self shall bow the knee 
To shadows and delusions here. 

Mention shotild be made of Alexander Wilson, the 
ornithologist, a man of brilliant parts, devoted to his 
chosen purstiits, and a master of a beautiful style of 
writing. He will always share the regard of the 
world with his great contemporary, Audubon. 

The "Federalist" is the name of a series of papers, 
written chiefly by James Madison and Alexander 
Hamilton, upon the Constitution of this country. 
The work is an invaluable one to lawyers and states- 
men, and should not be overlooked by the student 
of history. 

The prominent novelist of the last century was 
Charles Brockden Brown, born in Philadelphia in 
1 771. He was a man of unquestioned ability, and 
will have a place in all histories of our literature. His 
novels, however, are formed upon the model of 
William Godwin's ''Caleb Williams," and, though 
powerful and absorbing in interest, are at the same 
time repulsive to the last degree. The hero is always 



20 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

involved in the meshes of fate, either the witness or 
the victim of unspeakable atrocities which no hu- 
man foresight could avert. The influence of such 
morbid productions is neither exhilarating nor im- 
proving, and for that reason we do not include the 
author in this collection, but refer the reader to the 
cyclopaedias. 

William Clifton, born in Philadelphia in 1772, was 
possessed of fine poetical powers, and has left many 
agreeable poems, which barely miss excellence. In 
any full collection he would be sure of a place. 

There will always be a charm in the prose of 
Franklin; Jefferson will always have some readers ; 
and students of history may pore over the writings of 
a few other contemporary authors. But our literature 
has its real beginning with BRYANT and IRVING. 
When " Thanatopsis" was printed in the "North 
American Review," and " The Sketch Book " was 
printed in New York, the day of commonplace 
rhymes, and of dull and pedantic essayists, was gone. 

It is proper, however, that we should mention the 
names of a few literary periodicals which were pub- 
lished near the beginning of this century. They do 
not contain many articles of permanent value, but 
their influence was powerful in moulding the public 
taste, and in preparing the way for the authors who 
were to follow. Among the first, and by far the 
best, of these early magazines was " The Farmer's 
Museum," established in Walpole, N. H., in 1793, by 
Isaiah Thomas and David Carlisle. Among its early 
contributors was Joseph Dennie, a native of Boston 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 21 

and a graduate of Harvard College, who in 1796 
became the responsible editor, and who called to his 
aid a circle of the brightest wits and best writers 
of the time. Royal Tyler, Thomas G. Fessenden, 
David Everett, and Isaac Story were of the corps. 
Dennie, among other things, wrote a series of mildly 
pleasant essays entitled " The Lay Preacher," which 
were much admired. In 1799 he removed to Phila- 
delphia, and the next year established a literary peri- 
odical in that city called '* The Port Folio," edited by 
Oliver Oldschool. This was devoted to belles lettres 
and criticism, and was addressed wholly to cultivated 
readers. It contained elaborate treatises upon the 
poems of Gray and others, and many of the poems 
and epigrams printed in its columns were in French 
or Spanish. Thomas Moore, who was then sojourn- 
ing in the United States, contributed original poems 
for its pages. Dennie died about the end of the year 
18 II, but '• The Port Folio " was continued under the 
management of other editors until 1827. The essays 
of " The Lay Preacher " were collected in a volume 
published at Walpole in 1796, and another edition 
appeared in Philadelphia in 1817; but the work has 
now fallen into almost total neglect. 

There was an earlier venture, the *' American Mu- 
seum," started in Philadelphia, in 1787, by Matthew- 
Carey, an Irish emigrant. This was a meritorious and 
useful periodical, but could hardly be styled literary. 
It was a repository of old and new matter, chiefly 
designed for the instruction of the people in domestic 
economy and in their practical duties under the new 



22 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

Constitution. The editor, among other tilings, re- 
printed Thomas Paine's " Common Sense," Trumbiill's 
" McFingal," and a rather tedious poem by David 
Humphreys. The undertaking appears to have had 
the valuable aid of Benjamin Franklin and of Dr. 
Benjamin Rush. The " Museum " was continued until 
1799. 

Another magazine was published in Philadelphia 
from 1803 to 1808, conducted with considerable abil- 
ity, by the celebrated novelist, Charles Brockden 
Brown. It was called " The Literary Magazine 
and American Register." In 181 3 "The Analectic 
Magazine " was begun in Philadelphia, remembered 
chiefly as being edited by Washington Irving. This 
was. mainly a compilation from foreign sources, al- 
though Irving wrote for it several able critical articles 
and biographies of naval commanders. 

Isiaah Thomas, already mentioned in connection 
with "The Farmer's Museum," published "The 
Massachusetts Magazine" from 1789 to 1796. 

In New York, in 181 1, was published "The 
American Review," edited by Robert Walsh. This 
was the first quarterly established in this country. It 
continued for two years only. 

One other magazine in this period deserves men- 
tion, and that is " The Monthly Anthology," issued 
in Boston from 1803 to 1811. It was founded by a 
club (first of the series of Mutual Admiration Societies 
of the city) purely for the love of literature. It was 
conducted without reward, and the printer was mag- 
nanimously paid by the contributors. It numbered 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 23 

among its members Rev. William Emerson, father 
of the essayist and poet, Judge William Tudor, 
author of the ** Life of James Otis," Rev. William E. 
Channing, the famous preacher and essayist, Richard 
H. Dana, the poet, Dr. J. C. Warren, Dr. James 
Jackson, Dr. J. S. J. Gardiner, and others. To this 
club Boston owes the Athenaeum Library and Gal- 
lery. There are valuable critical and didactic articles 
in the " Anthology," but it would not be considered a 
very brilliant magazine in our day. We give an ex- 
tract from a poem by Thomas Paine (not the Thomas 
of the " Age of Reason" and the '* Rights of Man," 
but a Boston Thomas, who afterward had his name 
changed to Robert Treat Paine, Jr., because he had 
not, he said, a Christian name). The poem was 
delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cam- 
bridge in 1797, and the reviewer in the *' Anthology," 
without rating it very high, considered that the poem, 
on the whole, was the best that had been written in 
the country at that time. 

(From "The Ruling Passion.") 

'• To fame unknown, to happier fortune born, 
The blythe Savoyard hails the peep of morn ; 
And while the fluid gold his eye surveys, 
The hoary Glaciers fling their diamond blaze ; 
Geneva's broad lake rushes from its shores, 
Arve gently murmurs and the rough Rhone roars. 
'Mid the cleft Alps his cabin peers from high, 
Hangs o'er the clouds and perches on the sky. 
O'er fields of ice, across the headlong flood, 
From chff to cliff he bounds in fearless mood: 



24 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

While far beneath a night of tempest lies, 

Deep thunder mutters, harmless lightning flies; 

While far above, from battlements of snow, 

Loud torrents tumble on the world below. 

On rustic reed he wakes a merrier tune 

Than the lark warbles on the Ides of June. 

Far off let Glory's clariojt shrilly swell ; 

He loves the music of his pipe as well. 

Let shouting millions crown the hero's head, 

And Pride her tessellated pavement tread ; 

More happy far, this denizen of air 

Enjoys what Nature condescends to spare ; 

His days are jocund, undisturbed his nights ; 

His spouse contents him, and his 7nule delights." 

A few years later, in 1815, the ''North American 
Review" was established. It was conducted mainly 
by the coterie that had maintained the " Anthology." 
The country had become independent and prosper- 
ous. Public and private libraries were doing -their 
silent but prodigious work; the tone of public sen- 
timent was hopeful and patriotic. The Review be- 
came a leader of public opinion, and promoted the 
interests of learning and the development of taste. 
When we remember that most of its early contribu- 
tors have been active men within the memory of the 
present generation, and that one of them, Richard H. 
Dana, Sr., survived until 1879, we shall be sensible 
of the short space of time in which the bulk of our 
literature has been created. The vejierable Review 
also survives, like an ancient line-of-battle ship, with 
a record of brilliant service and a new modern 
armament. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 25 

Let us not be misunderstood. All the libraries and 
learning, all the literary clubs and reviews in the 
world, can never produce a work of genius; but 
they create a literary atmosphere in which genius is 
nourished, they attract authors and artists to liter- 
ary centres, and many minds are broyght through 
these influences to a consciousness of their own 
powers. 

As we have before mentioned, Bryant is the earliest 
of our poets, as Irving is of our prose writers. From 
the time of their appearance the enumeration of our 
authors becomes more difficult, and we can mention 
only a few conspicuous names. With all our disad- 
vantages, and in spite of the absence of an unsatisfac- 
tory international copyright law, our literary fields 
show abundant culture and fruit. It is evident that 
this is our Elizabethan age, and that the names of our 
chief poets will be hereafter remembered as the con- 
stellation of the nineteenth century. Bryant, Long- 
fellow, Emerson, VVhittier, Holmes, and Lowell, — 
and in a measure Poe and Whitman, — are already 
classic on both sides of the Atlantic, and have their 
assured place in history. There are many others 
who, if they do not eventually come into the first 
rank, will have an enduring remembrance. Among 
elder novelists and romancers the world will not for- 
get Cooper, Hawthorne, or Mrs. Stowe. Prescott, 
Motley, Bancroft, and Parkman are secure for this age 
in the fields of their historic labors. Future genera- 
tions, we like to believe, will turn over the pages of 
our brilliant essayists such as Thoreau, Higginson, 



26 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

Whipple, Curtis, and Warner, with the deHght we feel 
in Lamb, Sydney Smith, and Leigh Hunt. 

In literature, as in life, there is an ever-moving pro- 
cession. At the most, we can give only an instantane- 
ous view of living writers and their works, and before 
the picture can be prepared for exhibition we may 
find the grouping and perspective all wrong. Imma- 
ture geniuses have begun to dwindle, and some ven- 
erable reputations to grow dim; monuments fondly 
thought to be more enduring than bronze have begun 
to crumble; the wisdom we reverenced is growing 
obsolete, and the humor we relished has gone, like 
the expression from poor Yorick's skull ; while new 
men with strange names are coming to take the lead- 
ing places without the least consideration for the 
elders whom they crowd into the background. Even 
while we write, and before the printer has done his 
work, new poems, new histories, and new travels 
may be appearing, which will totally disarrange the 
best-considered estimates of contemporary literature. 
Some author, inconspicuous hitherto, may blaze with 
a new and unexpected lustre. The attraction of some 
great genius may draw the thoughts and emotions of 
men into new channels, and leave our present favorites 
in hopeless neglect, until the turn of the tide. 

The booksellers tell us that the lifetime of books 
does not exceed thirty years. (We do not refer to 
novels and tales, which the public expects fresh daily, 
like muffins.) It will be in vain to look on their 
shelves to-day for a volume bearing the date of i860, 
unless it is one of the few that have become classic, 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 2/ 

in which case it will be catalogued as Vol. — of the 
Complete Works of . If it were only the worth- 
less books that are whelmed in oblivion, there would 
be some satisfaction in the sure though slow ven- 
geance which overtakes dulness and pretension ; but 
there are notable exceptions. Some of the early poems 
of Cranch are imaginative, thoughtful, and delicately 
wrought; and it may surprise the reader to learn that 
he cannot find a copy of the original volume in any 
bookstore in America. There are numerous in- 
stances of the same kind in our literary history. 

It is obvious that our literature has from time to 
time to a great extent adopted the thought and re- 
flected the changing taste of the mother country. 
Every English master has been acknowledged here 
as faithfully as in London. A collection of our arti- 
cles in chronological order, whether in prose or verse, 
will hardly need marginal dates, since the style will 
enable us to fix the period to which it belongs. Even 
to this day the independence of this country has not 
been fully achieved so far as literature is concerned. 
Admirable works in many departments have been 
written here, and a feeling of nationality has begun 
to penetrate literary classes ; but we have not pro- 
duced many authors who are not greatly indebted to 
English models. All the stately, heroic lines of the 
provincial period, as well as the poems for college an- 
niversaries still in vogue, are so many tributes to Pope. 
The " Lay Preacher," by Dennie, and the " Letters 
of a British Spy," by Wirt, were only heartfelt acknowl- 
edgments to the Addisonian essayists. Wordsworth, 



28 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

without being directly imitated (which, considering 
his occasional tendency to prosiness, is fortunate), has 
strongly influenced most of our poets. New York 
gave its homage to Byron in Willis's " Lady Jane " and 
in Halleck's "Fanny" and "Marco Bozzaris ; " and 
later a new echo of his ringing verse came from the 
Californian sierras. Were Tennyson to claim his own 
laurels, many of our bards would find their brows as 
bare as Caesar's. But this is an ungracious theme. 

One thing more should be said, however; and that 
is, our great indebtedness to English scholarship 
seems likely to continue. While education is more 
generally diffused in the United States, conspicuous 
scholarship is far more frequent in England. Lite- 
rary labor is generally poorly paid in this country. 
It is the demand for cJieap books that has made the 
profession of authorship a beggarly one ; and until 
literature as a profession is remunerative, it will not 
retain the best minds permanently in its service. The 
few men of genius — half a dozen in a generation — 
will write because they must; and they will have their 
reward. But the maintenance of a national literature 
requires the co-operation of a great body of men of 
talent, who must be enabled to earn a living. So 
long as the results of an English scholar's labor can 
be imported and used without payment, the Ameri- 
can scholar can find no market in his own country. 
Two thirds of all the reviewing, condensing, translat- 
ing, and other literary work, are done in England. 
This transfers the power and influence also. The 
present international copyright law bristles with difli- 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTIOxV. 20 

culties, and, except for the (ew great writers, may 
prove to be of small practical benefit. 

The progress of events has greatly changed the 
character of modern literature. The great discover- 
ies in physical science have not only given birth to 
an immense number of special treatises, but have 
affected our thinking, supplied us with new words 
for the new ideas, and furnished illustrations for phi- 
losophers and poets. Our essayists, preachers, and 
lecturers have resources at hand which the fathers 
of our literature never dreamed of While investi- 
gation has been pointing out the errors of the past 
and building our knowledge on sure foundations, 
the experiments of natural philosophers, — as in 
spectrum-analysis, for instance, — and the observa- 
tions of astronomers, have been de-magnetizing our 
common figures of speech (once suited to the world's 
childhood) and raising our conceptions of the grand- 
eur of the universe. The mind deals with vaster 
measures of space and time, and man has thereby 
grown in intellectual and moral stature. And as 
thought has expanded, so language, the instrument 
of thought, or rather its dodj/, has had a correspond- 
ing development. Whoever shall write a great poem 
hereafter will have at his hand virtually a new and 
living vocabulary. The reinforced and perfected 
language waits for the master who can display its 
accumulated stores. 

Another influence, which is slowly but powerfully 
affecting our literature, is the doctrine of equalit}^ in 
political affairs and economic relations. The point 



30 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

of separation between us and the English people is 
where democracy and Christianity meet in asserting 
the rights of man as ma7i against prescription and the 
accidents of birth. So long as we are loyal to the ideas 
on which our government rests, — the ideas which 
alone give us an individuality among nations, which 
have cast out slavery and left the republic firm, and 
which are to overthrow all other intrenched privileges 
of special classes, — we can look forward hopefully to 
the development of a national character, and of a 
national literature in harmony with it. The qualities 
that make the essential differences between American 
and English literature are those which have sprung 
from different theories in regard to the natural rights 
of man. The people of Great Britain do not gener- 
ally admit this, but there is no other rational expla- 
nation for the evident higher tone and freer expression 
of ideas in the United States since the intellectual 
independence of the country has been asserted. 

A change in the observer's point of view is a very 
important fact ; and it is clear that if the experiment 
of free government is to be permanently successful, 
much of the history as well as the political and moral 
philosophy of the world must be re-written. It is one 
thing that the issue of a battle shall bring a nation of 
peasants, united and content, to the foot of one man 
exalted on a throne, and quite another that the same 
people shall gain by their own swords the right to be 
greatly free, to be educated for their responsibilities, 
and to enter upon an illimitable career of progress. 
The beliefs of the historian and the faith of the bard 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 3 I 

will color, if not wholly control, their accounts of such 
a struggle and their celebration of the victory. VVe 
have therefore a right to expect from our authors 
that they shall be animated by a spirit in harmony 
with our national ideas, and by a faith in the future 
of our institutions. Without this, there is not even a 
beginning for a national literature. Kings and courts 
may interest us like mediaeval castles, but the philo- 
sophical American will think more of his sixty mil- 
lion fellow sovereigns, and of the influences which 
are to make them fit rulers over themselves. In this 
view the ideal historian is not only an impartial ob- 
server, but a believer in humanity, and in the perfec- 
tibility of institutions for humanity's sake. History 
will be the record of the progress of ideas, of the 
gradual elimination of error and wrong, and so a 
prophecy of ultimate justice and tranquillity. 

In looking over the body of modern literature we 
notice the absence of dramatic worksc A little over 
two hundred years ago the noblest poetry, the pro- 
foundest views of life, the wisest maxims of states- 
manship, as well as the most masterly studies of 
character, were to be found in plays. The theatre 
degenerated as education became more general, and 
poetry was gradually superseded by prose in drama- 
tic literature. The last classical plays were Talfourd's, 
unless we except Lord Lytton's *' Richelieu " and 
" The Lady of Lyons." Few plays of the sentimental 
class were written afterward. Plays are still written 
by scholars, but acting dramas are no longer a part 
of literature. A new Shakespeare could not get a 



32 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

play represented on the modern stage unless it were 
a melodrama or a burlesque. Even then, the man- 
ager at the first rehearsal would cut out ev^ery 
speech on which the dramatist prided himself, — 
every gem of sentiment and epigrammatic turn, 
every flower of song. " To be or not to be," 
" What a piece of work is man ! " " Hark ! the 
lark at heaven's gate sings," " All the world 's a 
stage," would be found as so many scraps of paper 
in the waste-basket. A play, being no longer a liter- 
ary work, is " reduced," as in fractions, " to its lowest 
terms." Action is the thing; and as a ship of war 
that had before moved on in beauty, a stately pile of 
canvas towers, now, when the enemy nears, takes in 
her light sails, sends down her slender spars, and 
strips to fighting trim, so the serious play, to suit the 
impatient temper of audiences, is shorn of its graces 
and its fine sentiments, and is made a mere exhibition 
of the conflict of human passions in their most tu- 
multuous form. The play-goer may be safely chal- 
lenged to repeat a single line from any modern work 
that has delighted him. He may recall an attitude 
or a tableau, but not a sentence worth rememberincf. 
Once, for the pensive Milton, — 

"gorgeous Tragedy 
In sceptred pall came sweeping by ; " 

now, it is an infuriated being, with skirts and sleeves 
tucked up, rushing across the stage and brandishing 
a butcher's knife. 

The novel has gained in character and influence as 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 33 

much as the drama has lost The demand for enter- 
tainment seems rather to have grown with the world's 
growth, and now a vast army of writers is occupied, 
more or less profitably, in furnishing stories by tape- 
measure for periodicals, and filling bookstores, circu- 
lating libraries, and railway trains with weekly sup- 
plies of completed novels. Though the greater part 
of this mass of fiction is outside the pale of literature, 
it is still probable that in no other department has the 
genius of British and American authors been more 
conspicuous. Of course it is not possible to put one 
form of genius in the scales to be weighed in com- 
parison with another ; one cannot say what novelist 
or novelists would outweigh Tennyson. But among 
readers of English it is probable that Thackeray, 
Dickens, George Eliot, Hawthorne, Mrs. Stowe, and 
a few others, have illuminated, instructed, and enter- 
tained more minds, and filled a larger space in hearts 
and m.emories, than all the poets of Britain and 
America since Wordsworth. 

The novel exhibits the increased refinement of 
manners and the elevation of moral tone ; and though 
many weak, frivolous, and commonplace productions, 
and some of questionable morality, find readers, yet 
the current is daily stronger in favor of thq^e in 
which purity of character and noble aims in life are 
inculcated. In the United States the trouble is in the 
other direction ; the novel has been enfeebled by the 
influence of a silent but all pervading prudery. There 
can be no great work done in the drama or in fiction 
by an author who has not the courage to represent 

3 



34 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

HUMAN NATURE, and the tact and skill to do it with- 
out offence to modesty. In many of our popular 
novels the characters are conventional types, more 
like figures in fashion-plates than men and women. 
If a novelist aims at depicting scenery, inventing in- 
cident, and reporting the vapid talk of Newport and 
Bar Harbor, that is one thing ; but the master of fiction 
must take as his theme the human heart, with all its 
possibilities of passion, its interior struggles, its lapses, 
its wrestlings with ambition or crime. Until some 
WTiter appears with clear insight, courage, tact, and 
skill, there will be no novelist of the highest rank. 

Rightly viewed, the ideal novel is a creation of a 
high order. The opportunity it offers to a man of 
genius is practically without limit. So long as the 
author can hold his readers by their interest in the 
unfolding of his story, he can give time to studies of 
character, to lively sketches of manners, to historical 
scenes, or to discussions upon letters, philosophy, or 
art. Some of the most brilliant and suggestive writ- 
ing of our times, worthy of the first essayists and 
thinkers, may be found interspersed in the pages of 
modern novels. The authors of these works natur- 
ally represent all shades of opinions; the various 
religious sects as well as the schools of philosophy 
and politics have all pressed fiction into their service, 
ikit when we have learned the character and doctri- 
nal drift of such works through the newspapers and 
reviews, we can then make choice of such fiction for 
our entertainment as will be in harmony with our 
settled convictions, and can advise the young and in- 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 35 

experienced to avoid those which are calculated to 
disseminate false principles or low views of duty. It 
is true in this department of literature as in the arena 
of philosophic controversy, that error can be safely 
tolerated so lonor as truth is left free to combat it. 

The judicious public will not understand us as 
approving the indiscriminate and continual reading of 
novels to which so many young people are addicted. 
Used at proper intervals for relaxation and amuse- 
ment, a well-written and high-toned novel, especially 
of the historical kind, has a most favorable influence 
upon the faculties, — restoring elasticity and freshness 
after study, filling the mind with noble images, tend- 
ing to the improvement of taste, and aiding in the 
acquirement of a fluent and effective style, both in 
writing and speaking. 

In historical writing, — since Prescott, Motley, 
Bancroft, and Parkman, — much of the work has 
consisted of digests of antecedent labors, or of 
memoirs to serve future historians. In the Eastern 
States there appears to have been a general search 
in old garrets, lumber-rooms, and secret drawers; 
and the annals of commonwealths, cities, and towns 
have been explored and written up. At the call of 
publishers, writers have assembled and taken posi- 
tion in squads, each under the lead of an "editor" 
as orderly-sergeant, and books are fulminated in 
volleys. There are so many of them ! — statesmen, 
literati, generals, pioneers, — enough to occupy the 
whole time of a conscientious reader. It is pleasing 
to see so many uniform rows behind the glass doors 



^6 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

of the bookcase, and, perhaps, pleasing to think that 
one has in sets all the Annals and the Complete 
Lives of American Everythings. But when one re- 
flects that durable literary works have been rarely 
written to order ; that " editing." unless it is a mere 
form, is fatal to originality ; that no platoon of 
authors was ever marched down through history by 
" company front ; " that genius has a whim of going 
its own byways, and does not wear a uniform nor 
recognize an orderly-sergeant, — one is content that 
so much solid and useful work is done and placed 
within convenient reach for reference, but does not 
look in the sets for many permanent classics. 

It is praiseworthy to rebuild the tombs of the 
fathers, but it is not the chief work of a period of 
great enterprises. Yet certain monographs, and his- 
tories of movements of mind, are most creditable to 
our literature. They will be of use when modern 
history comes to be rewritten. The world waits for 
a thorough and dispassionate account of the Great 
Rebellion, within reasonable limits, and for a com- 
plete, philosophical, and attractive history of the 
United States. 

It is probably too soon yet to apprehend clearly 
the tendencies of our time. The prevailing vice or 
error is imitation. Scores of ambitious youths try to 
follow in the steps of Mark Twain ; and the riotous 
fun or sardonic humor which is so natural to that 
original and powerful writer is painfully travestied 
by the imitators. Plenty of ballad-mongers have 
striven to copy the masterly swing of Bret Harte : 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



?>7 

one 



or two have done it very well. Essayists in 
ountry (and city) newspapers tliink it not beyond 
then- powers to assume the delicate grace and suave 
dehberation of the " Easy Chair." If one poet of 
repute, when he has a poetic blossom of the bigness 
of a pansy, prints it in a magazine, thereupon nimier- 
ous bards (whom the \vorld unfortunately does not 
know) all come up out of dark corners with /■/^.zV little 
pansy quatrains. The flower simile does not always 
hold: oftentimes it would be better to call them 
"Chips from a Poet's Workshop,"- and then sweep 
them out. Others imitate a prevailing sentiment or 
tone, — most commonly one of sweet sorrow The 
essence of all Schopenhauer would not yield enou-xh 
of InUcrs for the makers of the melancholy verse In 
vogue. We can say in general that what is truly 
excellent and is likely to endure, is so from its basis 
of thought and from its accord with the immutable 
laws of Nature and of man. If we are sure of anything, 
.t .s that the popularity which rests upon tricks of 
expression, or insincerity of any kind, is short lived. 
Te world has done with imaginary woes, and with 
fictitious sentiment of all hues. That life is real and 

the o-n Vr "V'' '°""" °f imagination as in 
he wo d of fact. Among certain writers the prevail- 
g tendencies are not altogether healthy. There is 
s .1 an impression among many readers that sentences 
n>ade up of hints and suggestions, - sentences stuck 
over with pet epithets, until they have an enamelled 
look; sentences that are constructed with a view to 
make the thought stammer and hesitate, - are models 



38 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

of good taste. It is this spirit which pronounces 
any direct and manly utterance vulgar, and prefers 
the ctcJiing in of a thought by some soft-voiced stam- 
merer. A writer of this school is praised for his 
" delicate " traits of style, even though there may be 
scarcely a ripple of mirth and never a gleam of wit on 
the placid stream of his prose. This is the spirit 
which induces young authors to strive for conceits, 
prettinesses, and affectations, and to consider a sen- 
tence beautiful only when, as Turner said of Guido's 
Mater Dolorosa, it is *' polished to inanity." This 
is the spirit which in music prefers the nice form of 
expression to the thought itself; which sets the 
technical proficiency of the player and singer above 
the God-given feeling by virtue of which they are 
artists at all. 

Traits of this kind are among the surest signs of 
intellectual decay. The student of English literature 
ought to be warned that extraneous characteristics of 
style are peculiar to each author, and cannot be put 
on by another like a second-hand garment ; that solid 
thought and unaffected feeling are the things chiefly 
valuable in any literary composition ; and that graces 
of manner, like those of the person, are most winning 
when unconsciously worn. 

The field of literary activity has spread from year 
to year, until there is scarcely any large city that is 
not to some extent a literary centre, and scarcely 
any region in which authors may not appear. There 
was no reason why Massachusetts should continue in 
the lead, when colleges were established throughout 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 39 

the country, when time had brought general comfort 
and leisure, and literary taste was widely diffused. 
American literature is becoming the expression of 
the thought of the American people, and every re- 
gion furnishes what is peculiar to its local charac- 
ter, scenery, and circumstances. The New England 
novels of Howells, the Hoosier novels of Eglcston, 
the Creole romances of Cable, the tales of Rose Terry 
Cooke and of Miss Wilkins, the stories of the Ten- 
nessee mountains by Miss Murfree, the California 
talcs and ballads of Bret Harte, the overflow of 
Western comedy in the indescribable books of Mark 
Twain, and many other original works that might 
be mentioned, are guaranties that our literature 
will be as broad-based and representative as is our 
government. 



40 JONATHAN EDWARDS, 



JONATHAN EDWARDS. 

JONATHAN EDWARDS, theologian and meta- 
*^ physician, was born in East Windsor, Conn., Oct. 
5, 1703, and died in Princeton, N. J., March 22, 1758. 
The concurrent opinion of contemporaries and of 
succeeding generations places him among the four or 
five men of original intellect whom the New W^orld 
has produced. Pie was the flower of the Puritan race 
and culture in New England ; an exemplar of its 
logic, its inflexible purpose, its reverence, personal 
holiness, and steadfast faith ; an exemplar, too, of 
its gloominess, asceticism, narrowness, and provincial 
spirit. His works have had a larger share in forming 
the religious views of English-speaking Protestants 
than any since the times of Luther and Calvin. He 
was the last great Puritan divine. 

The characteristic traits and tendencies of Mr. 
Edw^ds were manifested at an early age. He wrote 
an essay upon the immateriality of the soul at the 
age of ten. He was early familiar with the specula- 
tions of the leading philosophers, among whom Locke 
was at first his favorite; but his matured views were 
wholly different from those of Locke. His prepara- 
tory studies were carried on at home, and at the 
age of twelve he entered Yale College, graduating 
at sixteen, — an instance of remarkable precocity. 



JONATHAN EDWARDS. 4 1 

He studied divinity for two years, and soon after 
preached for a few months in the city of New York. 
Later he was a tutor in Yale College for two years, 
and in 1727 was settled in Northampton, Mass., as 
colleague of his grandfather, Rev. Solomon Stoddard, 
whom he succeeded in 1729. He remained in this 
place until 1750, when the connection was severed, 
owing to difficulties with his congregation, growing 
out of the •' half-way covenant," under which the re- 
ligious privileges of the church were not denied to 
certain of the unconverted. Edwards wished to re- 
turn to the rigid rule of former days; but this was 
strenuously resisted by his people, who would not 
listen to him on this point, and being weary of the 
struggle he resigned. 

In 175 1 Edwards removed to Stockbridgc, Mass., 
where he preached to the Indians, but without notes, 
and gave his time to unremitted study. It was during 
his residence there that he produced some of his 
most important works, including the famous treatise 
on the " Freedom of the Will," published in Boston in 
1754. This is an attempt to reconcile the freedom 
of human volition with the sovereign foreknowledge 
of God, and consequently to establish the justice of 
electing a certain number to be saved, and of consign- 
ing the rest of mankind to everlasting punishment. 
As a tissue of connected logic it is at once subtle and 
strong, demanding close attention to comprehend it, 
and mastery of dialectics to refute it; yet it differs 
from most metaphysical treatises in one important 
particular ; namely, in the dexterous use of texts of 



42 JONATHAN EDWARDS. 

Scripture in critical stages of the argument, where 
reason, consciousness, or experience would bar the 
way to the author's desired conclusions. " The Free- 
dom of the Will," therefore, is not a web of pure 
logic, but of schoolman's logic, reinforced and illus- 
trated by Biblical quotation, without too much regard 
to the original meaning and purpose of the passages 
cited. As literature, it is idiomatic and simple to 
baldness. The English is a mingling of philosophical 
phrases with the every-day talk of common people. 
"Do not" is "don't;" "have not" is han't;" 
" them " is generally " em ; " "cannot" is "can't," 
etc. There is not a word of ornament, nor a sentence 
that looks rhetorical ; no quotable passages, only a 
steady and urgent progress from certain proposi- 
tions to certain conclusions. In spite of occasional 
quibbles, the mental *' grip " is astonishing; so that 
the reader is drawn on, however much against his 
will, to admit the plausibility of doctrines which his 
moral sense rejects. The definitions leave something 
to be desired ; but, all deductions made, this is 
undoubtedly the ablest of Calvinistic works. 

Later writers have discovered in the pages of 
Edwards germs of doctrine which, it is certain, he 
would have reprobated with horror. For instance : 
the immanence of the Holy Spirit in the converted 
soul, as he understood it, was something quite differ- 
ent from the inner presence of God with all men, as 
preached by the Transcendentalists. 

Traditions of the overwhelming power of the 
preaching of Mr. Edwards arc still current in Western 



JONATHAN EDWARDS. 43 

Massachusetts. On one occasion (in Enfield, Con- 
necticut) the house resounded with the sobs and 
groans of the congregation. Yet the effect was pro- 
duced by a purely intellectual presentation of his sub- 
ject, without oratorical artifice or appeal to feeling. 

Mr. Edwards's life and character were blameless, 
and his domestic relations tender and beautiful. The 
most attractive passages in his Works are to be found 
in letters of courtship written in his youth, wherein 
the utterances of the lover, the poet, and the saint are 
unconsciously blended. All that he wrote was marked 
by a beautiful simplicity beyond the reach of art. Of 
himself, and of his joy in Nature and in the conscicus- 
ness of God's presence in his soul, he says he was as 
" a little white flower, which may be seen in the 
meadows in the spring of the year, low and humble 
on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the rays 
of the sun's glory; rejoicing as it were in a calm rap- 
ture; diffusing around a sweet fragrancy; standing 
peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers 
round about, all in like manner opening their bosoms 
to drink in the light of the sun." This little image, 
which reminds us of Jeremy Taylor, will show that he 
sought to express his thoughts in language unadorned. 
He wrote out his discourses carefully, but when he 
came to preach he spoke fluently and without re- 
garding his notes. 

Mr. Edwards accepted an invitation to the presi- 
dency of Princeton College, and removed there early 
in 1758. As small-pox was prevalent, he was innocu- 
lated (it being before the discovery of vaccination) ; 



44 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

but the result was fatal. He lived but thirty-four 
days in his last home. 

Among the Works left by this learned divine are 
'* A Treatise concerning the Religious Affections " 
(1746); ''Qualifications for Free Communion in the 
Church" (1749); "Original Sin" (1757). Others 
were published after his death, as for instance, " The 
True Nature of Christian Virtue," " The History of 
Redemption," and *' God's True End in creating the 
World." 

Several Lives of Edwards have been published, of 
which the fullest is by Sereno Edwards Dwight, the 
latest editor of his complete Works. That Aaron 
Ikirr, one of the most brilliant, evil, and unscrupulous 
men of his generation, should have been the grand- 
son of Jonathan Edwards is one of the mysteries of 
the law of heredity. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

DENJAMIN FRANKLIN was born in Boston, 
January 6 (O. S.), 1706. He was one of the 
youngest of a family of seventeen children, and re- 
ceived but a limited common-school education. As 
he early manifested an adventurous disposition, and 
proposed going to sea, his father bound him as an 
apprentice to his brother James, who was a printer. 
His daily employment stimulated his active mind ; he 
became an assiduous reader, and gradually acquired 



BENJAMIN FRANKLlxN. 45 

the power of writing. At the age of seventeen, hav- 
ing quarrelled with his brother, he went to New York 
and Philadelphia in search of employment. His ac- 
count of this trip forms an amusing portion of his 
Autobiography, one of the most charming works in 
the language. After many vicissitudes he became a 
successful business man, at the same time constantly 
growing in public estimation as a philosophic in- 
quirer, a man fertile in wise projects for the general 
good, and endowed with the clear perceptions and 
sound judgment of a statesman. 

The first work of P>anklin that attained a general 
popularity was " Poor Richard's Almanac," which ap- 
peared in 1732, and was continued for many years. 
The homely proverbs which accompanied the calen- 
dars form an epitome of thrift, foresight, and worldly 
prudence. He learned Latin and several modern 
languages after he was twenty-seven years old. At 
the age of forty he began the researches in electricity 
which made his name immortal. But with his active 
mind and liberal principles he was unable to keep out 
of political affairs ; and in the long discussions that 
preceded the Revolution he took a leading part. His 
mission to the French court, which resulted in bring- 
ing the aid of fleets and armies to his struggling 
countrymen, and his other diplomatic successes in 
England and on the Continent, are matters of history, 
of which no intelligent, person is ignorant. He lived 
on till 1790, the Nestor of the young republic, ex- 
erting an influence upon the opinions and character 
of the people that is without a parallel. 



46 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

If Franklin's precepts may be considered as tending 
too much to selfishness, it must not be forgotten that 
labor, diligence, and economy were vitally necessary 
for a new country, and that the accumulation of 
capital, no less than courage and free principles, was 
essential to the preservation of the nation's life. 
While we do ample justice to the wisdom, probity, 
and beneficence of our great philosopher and states- 
man, we may yet recognize a higher ideal of character, 
and aspire to a more complete and generous culture 
than was possible in his time. 

The Works of Franklin have been published in ten 
volumes, edited by the late President Sparks. They 
do not contain much that is interesting except to 
special students. Plis letters are a valuable part of 
our national history, and his philosophical papers 
have an important place in the records of inventions 
as well as of electrical science. His iron fireplaces 
and stoves were of great utility; and readers will be 
surprised, perhaps, to learn that the custom of regu- 
lar street-sweeping in London was due to him. The 
Autobiography, which first appeared in London, was 
wantonly garbled by the editor, William Temple 
Franklin, a grandson of the author. A new edition, 
which is believed to follow the original manuscript 
with exactness, was edited by John Bigelow, formerly 
United States minister to France. The style of this 
work is inimitable ; it is as simple, direct, and idio- 
matic as Bunyan's; it is a style which no rhetorician 
can assist us to attain, and which the least touch of 
the learned critic would spoil. 



JOHN ADAMS« 47 



JOHN ADAMS. 

JOHN ADAMS was born in Braintrce, Mass., in 
^ that part now forming the town of Quincy, Octo- 
ber 19, 1735. He entered Harvard College at the age 
of sixteen, having had a meagre preparation under 
two clerical tutors. The fact that he studied Virgil 
and Homer painfully after his graduation, is not calcu- 
lated to give us a very high idea of the state of classi- 
cal learning in Cambridge at that time. He taught 
school and afterward read law in Worcester. He 
began the practice of his profession in his native 
town at the age of twenty-three, and with many dis- 
couragements slowly won his way to the first place 
among lawyers. He was early a friend of the pop- 
ular cause against the British government; but his 
sense of justice was so strong that he undertook the 
defence of the soldiers concerned in what has been 
termed the Boston Massacre, at the risk of his per- 
sonal popularity and business interests. The kind of 
courage which we agree to call " pluck " was always 
the eminent characteristic of the elder Adams. 

From the time of the discussions upon the Stamp 
Act until the declaration of independence, the life of 
John Adams is a part of our national history. His 
patriotism, courage, eloquence, and zeal have been 
celebrated in sentences which future generations will 
read with ever-increasing enthusiasm. Nor is there 
need even to mention his services and honors as 



48 JOHN ADAMS. 

diplomatist, Vice-President, and President; every 
schoolboy knows his history. 

Mr. Adams lived in an age of action, and had lit- 
tle time for rhetorical arts. But f(dw of his speeches 
have been preserved. His letters form the most 
valuable part of his published Works, and are among 
the best in our literature. Those addressed to his 
wife, in particular, are delightfully frank, tender, and 
manly. 

In his later days, when the doctrines of the Feder- 
alists had become unpopular, Mr. Adams suffered 
unspeakable indignities alike from political enemies 
and summer friends; but before the close of his life 
the substantial integrity and purity of his character 
were honored by both friends and foes, and all the 
din of party strife was hushed in admiration of his 
long services and unselfish patriotism. The doc- 
trines of his antagonists have thus far prevailed, for 
the most part, in directing public affairs; but it is 
not settled yet that universal suffrage, without re- 
straints upon the ignorant and vicious, will make a 
republic either perpetual or desirable. 

Mr. Adams died at the ripe age of ninety-one, 
on the 4th of July, 1826, on the same day with his 
illustrious friend and rival, Jefferson. Piis " Life 
and Letters " were published in ten volumes, under 
the care of his grandson, Charles Francis Adams. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 49 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

HTHOMAS JEFFERSON was bom at Shadvvell, 
in Albemarle County, Virginia, April 2, 1743. 
He received a classical education at the College of 
William and Mary, and subsequently studied law. 
He was successful at the bar, but was soon drawn 
away from practice into political life. As he had 
inherited a handsome estate, and had besides a large 
fortune with his wife, he was able to give his whole 
time to public affairs. It was remarkable that a man 
who never made a set speech should have been the 
most able and most successful politician of his time. 
It was by his private correspondence that he dissem- 
inated his views, and maintained his ascendency as a 
party leader. Many volumes of his letters have been 
published, and these, with his ** Notes on Virginia " 
and his state papers, constitute his Works. His name 
will forever be connected with the immortal Declara- 
tion of Independence, a production that is nearly as 
conspicuous in literary as in poHtical annals. 

During his whole career, as member of the House 
of Burgesses, as governor, as member of the Provin- 
cial Congress, as secretary of state under Wash- 
ington, as ambassador, and as President, Jefferson 
adhered, with singular tenacity, to the doctrines of 
equality and to popular rights as against prescription. 
It was owing to him that primogeniture and the law 
of entail, the chief bulwarks of a landed aristocracy, 
were abolished by the new constitution of Virginia. 

t 



50 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

His influence as a law reformer made it possible for 
that State to adopt and maintain a republican form of 
government. He was firmly opposed to slavery, 
though himself a slaveholder, and strove by legal 
means to prevent its increase, and to prepare the way 
for its abolition. He was averse to titles of honor, 
and maintained, both in official station and at home, a 
severe republican simplicity. The later years of his 
life were devoted, in a great measure, to the estab- 
lishment of the University of Virginia, an institution 
in which he took a great and just pride. 

Though the political principles of Jefferson were 
warmly combated in his day, and by men of high 
character and undoubted patriotism, it is noticeable 
that his ideas have been most efficient in moulding 
the institutions and inspiring the legislation of the 
country. This influence is not inherited by any one 
party; it has come to pervade all thinking minds. 

The style of Jefferson is easy, natural, and per- 
spicuous. He seldom rises to eloquence, although 
many of his sentences contain powerful strokes. His 
manners were very attractive, and his hospitality at 
Monticello was unbounded. He died July 4, 1826, 
just fifty years after the Declaration. 

Of the several biographies of Jefferson, the best is 
by H. S. Randall (3 vols, 8vo). His Works were 
published by order of Congress, and fill nine vol- 
umes. A new selection of letters, including some 
not before printed, was published by his grand- 
daughter, under the title of *' The Domestic Life of 
Jefferson." 



JOHN TRUMBULL. 5 1 



JOHN TRUMBULL. 

JOHN TRUMBULL was born in Watertown, Conn., 
^ April 24, 1750, and belonged to a family dis- 
tinguished for ability and character. He entered 
Yale College at the age of thirteen, although it was 
said he passed a satisfactory examination for admis- 
sion when he was seven years old. He was an inti- 
mate friend of Timothy Dwight in college and in 
after life. In 1771 he was tutor in college for two 
years, and afterward read law in the office of John 
Adams, in Boston, — which was a good school for 
law, and for patriotism likewise. 

Upon his return to New Haven in 1774, Mr. 
Trumbull began the composition of " McFingal," 
the poem by which he became famous. This attained 
a great and deserved popularity. It is obviously an 
Imitation of "Hudibras" in its structure, epigram- 
matic turns of thought, and grotesque rhymes; but 
its spirit is the author's own, and many of its couplets 
are fully as pungent as those of its prototype. It 
has been often observed that the wit of one genera- 
tion is rarely appreciated by the next, and this is es- 
pecially the case when the point of a sentence depends 
upon a knowledge of contemporaneous persons and 
events. The jokes that require an appendix for 
their elucidation are apt to miss fire with the reader. 
For this reason " McFingal," which is an embodi- 
ment of the spirit of the Revolution, is fast passing 
to oblivion. A few passages only will be remem- 



52 TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 

bered. For that matter, how much of " Hudibras " 
is readf Trumbull wrote another poem of some 
length, entitled " The Progress of Dulness," a satire 
upon prevailing errors in training and manners. An 
edition of his Works was published in Hartford in 
1820. The " McFingal," with notes by B. J. Lossing, 
was published by G. P. Putnam, New York, 1857. In 
this reprint the original spelling is preserved. 

Mr. Trumbull was never robust in body, but he 
lived to an advanced age. He died at Detroit, 
Michigan, May 12, 1831. 



TIMOTHY DWIGHT, 

T^IMOTHY DWIGHT was born in Northampton, 
Mass., May 14, 1752. He was a descendant of 
the famous Jonathan Edwards, and related in blood 
to other eminent men. He entered Yale College at 
the age of thirteen, and upon his graduation taught 
school in New Haven. He served as chaplain in the 
Revolutionary army, under General Putnam, and de- 
voted himself with great zeal to the cause of liberty. 
After some years spent in preaching, he was chosen 
president of Yale College in 1795, in which office he 
continued until his death, in 18 17. His personal in- 
fluence was unbounded over students and parish- 
ioners, and his unremitting industry enabled him to 
accomplish a vast amount of literary labor in addition 
to his daily duties. 



JOEL BARLOW. 53 

Mr. Dwight wrote a number of poems, all possess- 
ing a certain kind of merit, but not sufficiently in- 
spired to give them a permanent place in literature. 
His best remembered performance is the patriotic 
song, beginning, — 

"Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise, 
The queen of the world, and child of the skies." 

His principal poems are " The Conquest of Canaan," 
"Greenfield Hill" (which has a number of felicitous 
rural scenes), and "The Triumph of Infidelity." Be- 
sides a number of theological treatises, he wrote four 
volumes of " Travels in New England and New 
York," the results of his tours in college vacations. 
This last work is valuable for its pictures of scenery 
and manners in what now seems a remote age. The 
author had an instinctive perception of the pictur- 
esque, but the narrative lacks simplicity, and the de- 
scriptions are overloaded with epithets. 



JOEL BARLOW. 

TOEL BARLOW was born in Reading, Conn., in 
1755. He entered Dartmouth College, but com- 
pleted his education at Yale. During the vacations 
he served in the army, and was present at the battle 
of White Plains. Upon his graduation he studied 
theology, for the purpose of becoming an army 



54 JOEL BARLOW. 

chaplain; and after six weeks' application (which 
seems to have been considered sufficient to equip a 
clergyman viilitant), he was licensed to preach, and 
served for the remainder of the war. His " Vision 
of Columbus" — afterward expanded into the more 
pretentious and less pleasing ** Columbiad " — was 
written in camp. 

Barlow left the church and the army, and began 
the study of law, being admitted to the bar in 1785. 
He edited a newspaper at Hartford, and, at the re- 
quest of the General Association of Congregational 
Ministers, revised and added to Dr. Watts' version of 
the Psalms. One of Barlow's versions, beginning, — 

" Along the banks where Babel's current flows," 

retains its place in the hymn books. 

The practical poet next set up a bookstore to dis- 
pose of his own wares, which being done he returned 
to his profession. In 1788 he went to Europe, and 
remained (mostly in France) seventeen years. It is 
impossible, in our brief limits, to follow him in his 
adventures. He was in the midst of the French revo- 
lution, and was constantly active with his pen, not 
forgetting at any time the enterprise and thrift of the 
true Yankee in accumulating property. On his re- 
turn to the United States, in 1805, he settled in 
Washington. He was the object of violent hatred on 
the part of the Federalists, and his name was linked 
with Jefferson's and Paine's in a savage attack in 
verse written by John Quincy Adams. The *' Colum- 
biad " appeared in 1807, a costly and elegant volume. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 55 

The poem is vigorous and is smoothly versified, but 
has Httle of true poetry. The '' Hasty Pudding," a far 
more genial composition, was written abroad in 1793, 
and was dedicated to Mrs. Washington. 

In 1809 Barlow was about beginning a history of 
the United States, when his design was interrupted 
by his appointment as minister to France. In Octo- 
ber, 1 8 12, he was sent for by Napoleon, then on his 
Russian campaign, to meet him at Wilna. His rapid 
journey across the Continent in the severely cold 
weather brought on an inflammation of the lungs, 
of which he died near Cracow, in Poland, December 
22, 1 8 12. From his dying bed he dictated a poem, 
entitled " Advice to a Raven in Russia," a bitter and 
prophetic warning to the Emperor. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON was born in the 
^ Island of Nevis, in the West Indies, January 11, 
1757. His father was a merchant from Scotland; his 
mother was the daughter of a French Huguenot; and 
the son appears to have inherited, in equal measure, 
the vigor and endurance of the one race and the 
address and vivacity of the other. His education was 
not at all systematic; but his active mind instinc- 
tively found its proper stimulus, and he began to 
show his great natural powers at an early age. While 



56 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

attending to his studies at Columbia College, in New 
York city, the war broke out, and he entered the 
patriot army as a captain of artillery. In 1777 he 
was made aide-de-camp to General Washington, and 
distinguished himself by his ability in correspondence 
as we-lj as by active personal service in the field. At 
the close of the war he began the practice of law 
in New York. 

Hamilton's chief work, as an author, was the 
series of papers entitled " The Federalist," of which 
he wrote the greater number, — an elaborate exposi- 
tion of the Constitution of the United States. These 
papers, though necessarily abstruse in character, are 
perspicuous in style and powerful in reasoning. He 
was the first secretary of the treasury, and in that 
position displayed unrivalled skill. The sentences 
of Daniel Webster upon Hamilton's financial ability 
are woj-th quoting anew: *' He smote the rock of 
the national resources, and abundant streams gf reve- 
nue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of 
the public credit, and it sprang upon its feet." 

After six years' service, Hamilton retired from of- 
fice and resumed the practice of his profession. As 
he had opposed Aaron Burr, first in his endeavors to 
become President, and afterward in his canvass for 
the office of governor of New York, that unscrupu- 
lous demagogue, maddened by defeat, challenged him 
to fight a duel. Hamilton fell at the first fire, and 
died the next day, July 12, 1804, His body rests 
under a pyramidal monument in Trinity churchyard, 
New York. 



FISHER AMES. 57 

It may be doubted whether among the brilHant 
men of the last century there was any one who was 
distinguished by so many traits that win the admiration 
of the world as was Hamilton. Ability of the highest 
order in public -affairs, literary skill, oratorical power, 
personal intrepidity, graceful manners, and a fine 
presence have rarely been seen so exemplified in 
combination. 

The writings of Hamilton were published by his 
son, in seven volumes. 



FISHER AMES. 

CISHER AMES was born in Dedham, Massachu- 
setts, April 9, 1758, and died in his native place 
July 4, 1808. -He was a precocious youth, and was 
sent to Harvard College at the age of twelve. After 
graduation he spent a few years in teaching, and 
then entered upon the study of law in Boston. He 
began practice at Dedham in 178 1, and w^as early 
prominent in his profession, becoming equally dis- 
tinguished as a political speaker and essayist. He 
was the first member of Congress from his district, 
wdiich included Boston, and continued to represent 
it for eight years. During his whole career he was 
an ardent Federalist, — a fact which the reader is 
rarely allowed to forget in any speech, essay, or 
letter. 



58 FISHER AMES. 

Mr. Ames possessed uncommon vigor of mind; 
his memory was stored with Hterary treasures; his 
fancy was active, furnishing ilkistrative images that 
were as much to the purpose as his logic. And such 
was the effect of his oratory, even upon dehberative 
bodies, that on one occasion Congress adjourned on 
motion of Ames's chief opponent in debate, for the 
alleged reason that the members ought not to be 
called upon to vote while under the spell of his extra- 
ordinary eloquence. The speeches of Mr. Ames 
that have been preserved fully sustain his great repu- 
tation, being vigorous and logical in statement, and 
adorned with the graces of a lively and learned style. 
His letters, also, are fresh and charming. When we 
remember how much was done to influence public 
opinion by the private correspondence of leading men 
in the last generation, we must lament the decay of 
letter-writing as a fine' art. 

Mr. Ames was a man of amiable temper and irre- 
proachable character ; and though he was idolized by 
the public, it was only in the light of his home that 
he was fully known as he was, — one of the wisest, 
wittiest, as well as the most tender and constant of 
men. His Life was written by President Kirkland, of 
Harvard College, and his Works were edited by his 
son, Seth Ames, Justice of the Supreme Court of 
Massachusetts (2 vols., 8vo). 



JOSIAH QUINCY. 59 



JOSIAH QUINCY. 

YOSIAH QUINCY, the son of the famous orator 
'^ of the Revolution, Josiah Quincy, Jr., was born 
in Boston, February 4, 1772. He was graduated at 
Harvard College in 1790, and began the study of 
law with Judge Tudor; but he was soon engaged 
in political affairs, and was, during the whole of his 
long life, in the noblest sense a public man. He was 
a member of Congress from 1805 to 18 13; a State 
senator from 1813 to 1821 ; speaker of the Massachu- 
setts House of Representatives in 1821 ; judge of the 
municipal court in 1822; second mayor of Boston, 
from 1823 to 1828 ; and president of Harvard College 
from 1829 to 1845, when he retired from office and 
from active pursuits to enjoy his deserved repose. 
He was an ardent Federalist, aggressive and uncom- 
promising in temper, spotless in personal character, 
and possessing the rare combination of brilliant parts 
and varied learning with eminently practical abilities. . 
He died July i, 1864, leaving a reputation for integ- 
rity and high-mindedness that may be likened to the 
fame of the noblest historic Romans. 

Mr. Quincy's published Works are a Life of Josiah 
Quincy, Jr. ; "The History of Harvard University; 
"The Journals of Major Samuel Shaw," first Ameri- 
can Consul at Canton, with a Life of the Author; 
"History of the Boston Athenaeum; " "The Muni- 
cipal History of the Town and City of Boston during 



6c WILLIAM WIRT. 

Two Centuries; " "The Life of John Ouincy Adams," 
besides numerous speeches and addresses. 

PubHc services, however eminent, would not entitle 
a statesman to a place in a book like this ; but the 
literary merit of Mr. Quincy's speeches is conspicu- 
ous. The speech upon the embargo is remarkable 
for its energy, its power in dealing with details, its 
polished style, and for an ironical wit which must 
have been scathing. 

His Life was written by his son, Edmund Ouincy, 
and is one of the most valuable and interesting of 
American biographies. Lowell wrote an admirable 
article upon the Life, entitled '*A Great Public 
Character." A statue of Mr. Ouincy in bronze 
stands in front of the City Hall in Boston. 



WILLIAM WIRT. 

V\7ILLIAM WIRT was born in Bladensburg, in 
' ' Maryland, November 8, 1772. He was the 
son of a Swiss father and a German mother, both of 
whom died while he was quite young. He received 
his education in the private school of a Presbyterian 
clergyman, and though it is fair to presume that his 
progress in classical learning was only moderate, we 
know that he early acquired a taste for reading, and 
devoured all the contents of the master's library. So 
rapidly had he gone over his preparatory course, that 



WILLIAM WIRT. 6l 

he was admitted to the bar in Virginia and began 
practice in his twentieth year. At that time, he tells 
us, his library consisted of Blackstone's Commen- 
taries, two volumes of Don Quixote, and " Tristram 
Shandy." His first step in public life was in being 
chosen clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates. 
Soon after, he was made chancellor of the eastern 
district of the State. 

During his residence in Richmond Mr. Wirt wrote 
"The British Spy," a series of papers of very un- 
equal merit. Two of them, one upon Pocahontas, 
and the other an account of the Blind Preacher, are 
in his best style, animated, picturesque, and .touching; 
the scientific disquisitions that burden most of the 
others are of little value. Later appeared another 
series, entitled '*' The Old Bachelor." They were la- 
bored essays, resembling those of Johnson, Addison, 
and Steele only in form ; and in spite of the favorable 
judgment of Wirt's biographer, Kennedy, they must 
be considered as dull ; they have fallen into total 
neglect. Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry attained a 
great popularity. It is not based on those founda- 
tions generally thought essential to biography, since 
Wirt never saw Henry, and could only write according 
to tradition; moreover, nothing authentic remained 
of the eloquence that had dazzled the generation pre- 
ceding. But the book was written in a spirit of hearty 
sympathy; and though the style at times is open to 
critical objections, all things are forgiven to the 
author who carries his readers on with unwearied 
attention to the close. 



62 JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. 

Wirt was appointed attorney-general of the United 
States in 1817, and held the office twelve years. His 
forensic speeches were learned, ornate, and fervid. 
Perhaps the most favorable specimen of his oratory 
is the speech upon the trial of Aaron Burr, in which 
occurs the episode of Blennerhasset's Island, — a pas- 
sage dear to generations of schoolboys, and lingering 
like a memory of beauty in maturer years. His dis- 
course upon the lives of Adams and Jefferson, deliv- 
ered in 1826, was also a fine production. Upon his 
retirement from office in 1828, he went to reside in 
Baltimore, where he spent the remainder of his life. 
He died in Washington, February 18, 1834, while 
attending the Supreme Court. He was a strikingly 
handsome man, with graceful manners and a musical 
voice. He was twice married, and was happy in his 
domestic relations. Both in public and in private life 
his character and conduct were irreproachable. His 
Life was written by John P. Kennedy, of Baltimore. 



JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. 

TAMES KIRKE PAULDING was born in Pleasant 
*^ Valley, Duchess County, N. Y., August 22, 1779. 
With the exception of some assistance from the village 
school, he was self-taught. He went to the city of 
New York while still a youth, and obtained employ- 
ment through the aid of William Irving, who had mar- 



JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. 63 

ried his sister. Becoming intimate with Washington 
Irving, a younger brother of Wilham, he turned his 
attention to literature, and in connection with his 
since-illustrious friend he published " Salmagundi," a 
series of satirical papers. We have space only for 
the titles of his numerous Works: ''The Diverting 
History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan" (1812); 
"The Lay of the Scotch Fiddle " (1813), a parody upon 
Scott's" Lay of the Last Minstrel ; " "The United States 
and England," a political pamphlet (1814); " Letters 
from the South by a Northern Man" (1817); ''The 
Backwoodsman," a poem (1818) ; a new series of 
" Salmagundi " (18 19) ; " A Sketch of Old England by 
a New England Man " (i 822) ; " John Bull in America," 
(1824). His first novel, " Konigsmarke," was published 
in 1823; "Merry Tales of the Three Wise Men of 
Gotham," in 1826; " The Traveller's Guide," in 1828; 
" Tales of the Good Woman," in 1829 ; " The Book of 
St. Nicholas," in 1830. Then appeared, in 183 1, his 
best work, and the one by which his name will be re- 
membered, "The Dutchman's Fireside." This is a 
genuine, life-like story, full of stirring incidents, of pic- 
turesque scenes and striking characters, for which the 
author's early experiences had- furnished the abun- 
dant materials. The amiable and whimsical peculi- 
arities of the Dutch settlers, the darker traits of Indian 
character, and the vicissitudes of frontier life have 
rarely been more powerfully sketched. In 1832 he 
published another successful novel, " Westward Ho ! " 
In 1835 appeared his Life of Washington, for youth, 
a well-considered and valuable work. The next year 



64 WASHINGTON ALLSTO\. 

he published " Slavery in the United States," a treatise 
in which the institution is warmly defended. From 
1837 to 1 841 he held the post of secretary of the 
navy. Upon his retirement he wrote two more nov- 
els, '' The Old Continental " (1846), and " The Puritan 
and his Daughter " (1849). He died April 6, i860. 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 

AIW'ASHINGTON ALLSTON was born in Charles- 
ton, S. C, November 5, 1779. He was pre- 
pared for college at a private school in Newport, R. L, 
and was graduated at Harvard in 1 800. Being deter- 
mined to devote himself to art, he sold his property, 
and passed three years as a student of the Royal 
Academy in London. He pursued his studies for 
several years afterward in Rome. It was at this 
period that Washington Irving met him, and recorded 
his impressions of him : ** There was something to 
me inexpressibly engaging in the appearance and 
manners of Allston. I do not think I have ever been 
more completely captivated on a first acquaintance. 
He was of a light and graceful form, with large blue 
eyes, and black silken hair waving and curling around 
a pale, expressive countenance. Everything about 
him bespoke the man of intellect and refinement. 
His conversation was copious, animated, and highly 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 65 

graphic, warmed by a genial sensibility and benevo- 
lence, and enlivened, at times, by a chaste and gentle 
humor." 

Allston was married in 1809 to a sister of Rev. Dr. 
Channing, and lived in Boston two years. He then 
returned to Europe, and remained abroad until 18 18. 
His longest poem, '* The Sylphs of the Seasons," was 
published in London, i8i3,the year in which his wife 
died. In 1830 he was married to a sister of the poet 
Dana, and lived in Cambridgeport from that time 
until his death in 1843. ** Monaldi," an Italian ro- 
mance of singular power and marked individuality, 
was published in 1831. His Lectures on Art, four in 
number, did not appear until after his death. 

During his residence in Cambridgeport, Allston 
came under the observation of another author. Pro- 
fessor Lowell, whose poetical portrait of him in later 
years is worth setting against Irving's affectionate 
sketch : ** So refined was his whole appearance, so 
fastidiously neat his apparel, — but with a neatness 
that seemed less the result of care and plan than a 
something as proper to the man as whiteness to the 
lily, — that you would at once have classed him with 
those individuals, rarer than great captains and almost 
as rare as great poets, whom Nature sends into the 
world to fill the arduous office of gentleman. ... A 
nimbus of hair, fine as an infant's and early white, 
showing refinement of organization and the predomi- 
nance of the spiritual over the physical, undulated 
and floated around a face that seemed like pale flame, 
and over which the flitting shades of expression 

5 



^6 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 

chased each other, fugitive and gleaming as waves 
upon a field of rye. . . . Here was a man all soul, 
whose body seemed a lamp of finest clay, whose ser- 
vice was to feed, with magic oils rare and fragrant, 
that wavering fire which hovered over it." 

Allston's writings, both in prose and poetry, have 
much of imagination and force, and are set forth in 
such a pure and fitting style, that we can but regret 
that he produced so little. His fastidious taste kept 
him so long retouching and refining both pictures and 
poems, that a single lifetime was not sufficient for the 
completion of any large number of either. A collec- 
tion of his poems and lectures was made by his 
brother-in-law, R. H. Dana, the poet. 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON, the son of an ad- 
^ miral in the French navy, was born on a planta- 
tion in Louisiana, May 4, 1780. Nature had destined 
him to be her enthusiastic student and interpreter. 
He was passionately fond of birds from his infancy, 
and began to draw and color at a very early age. He 
was sent to France to be educated, and passed some 
time in the studio of the eminent painter David. He 
returned to America, and lived in Pennsylvania, and 
afterward in Kentucky, supporting himself by trade, 
but devoting most of his time and all his thoughts 



WILLIAM ELLERY CIIANNINCi. 6"] 

to the prosecution of his favorite studies. After en- 
countering difficulties, and meeting with accidents 
enough to have checked the enthusiasm of ordinary 
men, his great work was accomphshed. His " Birds of 
America" is a monument of genius and industry; the 
designs are exquisite, every bird appearing with its 
native surroundings. Nor are they merely correct in 
form and color; on the contrary, they are shown in 
characteristic attitudes or in natural motion, and 
every figure is instinct with life. The letter-press 
descriptions mostly concern us. They are simply 
perfect, equally removed from the insipidity of a so- 
called "popular" style and from the scientific dryness 
which usually marks the mere naturalist. His own 
personal adventures are modestly told, and give a 
rare charm to the work. Scattered through his vol- 
umes are many touches of nature and hints of scen- 
ery that are inimitable, — especially because they are 
the unconscious utterances of a soul highly suscepti- 
ble to beauty, and without the least vain desire of 
parading its emotions. He died in New York, Jan- 
uary, 185 I. 



WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING. 

VyiLLIAM ELLERY CHANNING was born in 
Newport, R. I., April 7, 1780. He was pre- 
pared for college under the tuition of his uncle, the 
Rev. Henry Channing, at New London, Conn., and 
entered Harvard in 1794. After graduation he spent 



68 WILLIAM ELLERY CIIANNING. 

some lime as a tutor in a private family in Richmond, 
Va. He studied theology at Cambridge, and subse- 
quently, in 1803, became pastor of the Federal Street 
Church in Boston. Not long after occurred the sep- 
aration between the two wings of the Congregational 
Church, and Channing became the leader of the Uni- 
tarian party. His fame as a spiritually-minded and 
powerful preacher constantly increased, and the 
sphere of his influence widened. He made a tour of 
Europe in 1822, returning refreshed and strengthened 
to his parochial duties. 

Channing first became widely known as a writer 
by his admirable critical articles on Napoleon, 
Milton, and F'enelon, published in the *' Christian 
Examiner." The appearance of these essays marked 
a new era in American letters. No periodical in the 
country had, up to that time, contained such elabo- 
rate articles, clothed in a style of such simplicity, 
animated by such high moral principles, and evincing 
such imaginative power and cultivated taste. His 
religious doctrines led him to espouse with ardor the 
antislavery cause, to protest against the settlement of 
international disputes by appeals to arms, and to 
strive for the education and elevation of the laboring 
classes. From boyhood his sense of right and duty 
was strong, and his fidelity to his inward convictions 
unwavering. He was not renowned as a logician or 
as a thinker upon abstract subjects; but his enthu- 
siasm, purity of character, and deep natural piety 
gave him an ascendency over his hearers such as few 
preachers have possessed. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 69 

In his youth Channing was a passionate admirer of 
Shakespeare; in maturity, his love for Milton in- 
creased ; in later years he found more pleasure in the 
philosophic poetry of Wordsworth. By the succession 
of these preferences the drift of his mind is indicated. 
Miss Sedgwick, who met him in 1826, says: "There 
is a superior light in his mind that sheds a pure, bright 
gleam on everything that comes from it. He talks 
freely upon common topics, but they seem no longer 
to be . common topics when he speaks of them. 
There is the influence of the sanctuary, the holy 
place, about him." 

Dr. Channing died in Bennington, Vt., of a typhus 
fever, October 2, 1842. His Works are published in 
six volumes, i2mo. His biography was written by 
his nephew, Rev. William H. Channing, published 
in 1848. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 

pvANIEL WEBSTER was born in Salisbury, N. 
H., January 18, 1782. His early education was 
obtained in district schools, under great difficulties. 
At the age of fourteen he was sent to Phillips Acad- 
emy, in Exeter, N. H., but remained only a year, on 
account of the poverty of the famil\'. He pursued 
his studies under the care of a clergyman in a neigh- 
boring town, and entered Dartmouth College in 1797. 
He finished his course with credit, having acquired a 



70 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

tolerable knowledG^e of the classical lanc^uac^es, as well 
as of history and English literature. He was the 
foremost man of his class, though not the highest in 
academic rank. He was preceptor of an academy 
in Fryeburg", Maine, for a short time, and then began 
the study of law in his native town. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in Boston in 1805, and, returning 
to New Hampshire, began practice at Portsmouth. 
He took a prominent place in his profession at once, 
and in 181 2 was elected a member of Congress. In 
1816 he declined a re-election, and removed to 
Boston, where he soon established his reputation as 
the ablest advocate in the United States. It was in 
this period that he distinguished himself in the 
famous case of Dartmouth College against the usur- 
pations of the New Hampshire legislature. His intel- 
lectual activity was not confined to legal discussions: 
the two hundredth anniversary of the landing of the 
Pilgrims (1820) gave him an opportuity such as few 
orators have had, and his genius illustrated the 
themes it suggested in sentences that are as im- 
mortal as the event. 

In 1822 Mr. Webster was again elected a repre- 
sentative in Congress, where he remained until, in 
1828, he was chosen a United States senator. He 
continued in the Senate for twelve years, when he 
was appointed secretary of state by President Harri- 
son. During those eighteen years of public life his 
fame was steadily rising, until he was everywhere 
acknowledged the foremost of constitutional lawyers 
and debaters, and without a peer in the fields of 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 71 

classic and patriotic oratory. The oration at the 
laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument 
in 1825, the eulogy upon Adams and Jefferson in 
1826, the speech upon the trial of the murderers of 
Stephen White, and the reply to Hayne of South 
Carolina, in the debate upon ''nullification," in 1830, 
are beyond parallel in this century. 

In 1845 Webster returned to the Senate, and re- 
mained in that position until 1850, when he was 
appointed secretary of state by President Fillmore. 
He left Washington, September 8, 1852, and retired 
to his country-seat in Marshfield, where he died 
October 24 of the same year. 

Mr. W^ebster and his friends had considered, with 
some reason, that his talents and services entitled him 
to the nomination of his party for the Presidency. 
His claims were pressed strongly at the national 
convention of the Whig party in 1848; but he was 
set aside, that his party might avail itself of the mili- 
tary reputation of General Taylor. In 1850 he made 
a speech in favor of the Compromise measures, in- 
cluding the Fugitive Slave Law, which had the ef- 
fect of alienating many of his friends throughout 
the Northern States, and was the beginning of a 
fierce controversy that embittered the remainder of 
his life. In 1852 the Whig national convention 
again set him aside, and nominated General Scott; 
and it was noticeable that the members from the 
Southern States, for whose interests Mr. W^ebster had 
sacrificed so much, hardly gave him the poor compli- 
ment of a vote. There is no gratitude in politics. 



72 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

The Intellect of Mr. Webster had a firm basis of 
common-sense. His grasp of facts and his power of 
arranging them in argument were prodigious. In 
abstract reasoning he was not so strong; it was when 
his feet were planted upon the earth that he showed 
his power. His imagination reinforced and illumi- 
nated his reason ; his conceptions and his figurative 
illustrations often approached the sublime ; but he 
had little of the fancy and few of the graces that 
adorn the declamation of an inferior order of men. 
His style was the natural expression of his great 
thoughts; it was based on good models, but was 
imitated from no master, and is itself beyond the 
reach of imitation. No rhetorician could forge a 
characteristic Websterlan sentence any more than a 
Shakespearian line. His delivery was In perfect 
keeping with what he had to utter, — full of majesty, 
and fitted less to please than to command. 

This man, so highly endowed, sent into the world 
with such a form, such a face, such a presence, would 
have appeared to be the consummate flowering of 
our race ; and we must lament that he could not see, 
as we now see, how exalted w^as his position as a man 
of genius, and how little lustre his name could receive 
from any official title. 

In the light of the subsequent tremendous events 
the history of the attempts at conciliation, previous 
to i860, is full of Instruction. The topic belongs to 
the historian and the moralist, rather than to the 
literary critic ; but some mention of It could not be 
omitted in any fair view of Webster's career as a 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 73 

public man. Let us be thankful for the grand works 
he left, and rejoice that in spite of some errors, 
cruelly expiated, we find in his character so much 
that is worthy of admiration. 

A terrible arraignment of Webster for his com- 
promise speech (March 7, 1850) is contained in 
Whittier's poem " Ichabod." Years later Whittier 
relented, and his old admiration, mingled with keen 
regrets, was poured out in " The Lost Occasion," — 
perhaps the noblest tribute ever paid to the great 
orator. 

Webster's Works were published, with a memoir 
by Edward Everett, in six volumes. Two volumes 
of his correspondence were published afterward ; also 
a biography, by George T. Curtis. 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 

Y\7ASHINGT0N IRVING was born in the city of 
New York, April 3, 1783. He received only 
a common-school education, which ended in his six- 
teenth year, and thenceforward his mind had its own 
development. He read " Robinson Crusoe," some 
narratives of voyages, and afterward Chaucer and 
Spenser, and other English classics; he studied law 
for a time, made river excursions, and with great assi- 
duity travelled over his island-home in search of ad- 
ventures. Civilization had then extended no farther 



74 WASHINGTON IRVING. 

than Chambers Street. Dutch houses with stoops 
and gables were common, and the streets were bor- 
dered w'ith rows of tall poplars. The burgomasters 
of Peter Stuyvesant's time were not so remote as they 
now seem. Spuyten-Duyvel Creek and Hell Gate 
were in regions of mystery. The island, the broad 
bay, and the north river, with its noble shores, were 
all rich in traditions connected with the settlement 
of the country and the changes that had occurred 
among the people and their rulers. In the *' Author's 
Account of Himself," prefixed to the " Sketch Book," 
we see glimpses of his rambling disposition, and un- 
derstand how he acquired that perfect knowledge of 
the country, with its customs and legends, which 
gives to the " History of New York," and to the tales 
of " Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," their 
peculiar charm. 

In 1802 Irving began to write for a newspaper 
conducted by his brother. Dr. Peter Irving. Being 
threatened with pulmonary disease, he sailed for 
Europe in 1804, landing at Bordeaux, and visiting 
Genoa, Sicily, Naples, Rome, and Paris, and from 
thence journeying through Brussels, Maestricht, and 
Rotterdam to London. It was at Rome that he met 
AUston, and for a time thought of being a painter. 
He returned to New York in 1806, resumed the study 
of law, and was admitted to the bar; but it does not 
appear that he ever practised his profession. 

In company with his brother William and James K. 
Paulding, Irving engaged in a serial publication en- 
titled " Salmao-undi." It was filled with clever satire 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 75 

upon the follies of the day, and was immediately 
successful. His next venture was the publication of 
his " History of New York," which is, perhaps, the 
most unique, perfectly rounded, and sustained bur- 
lesque in our literature. It has a slight basis of sober 
history, and its ludicrous incidents and studies of the 
whimsical traits of Dutch character are painted with 
a grave air of verity that is infinitely amusing. It is to 
be regretted that the descendants of the old families 
whose names figure in the book, as well as members 
of the Historical Society and critics like Verplanck, 
took this so seriously and condemned the pleasantry 
as a wrong to the memory of the Dutch forefathers. 
He conducted the " Analectic Magazine " in Phila- 
delphia for two years, and contributed many articles 
that afterward appeared in the *' Sketch Book " and 
other later volumes. 

In 1814 Irving went to Europe for the benefit of his 
health. His life for the next seventeen years was full of 
interest, but its events cannot be compressed within the 
narrow space allotted to a single author in our collec- 
tion. After making a tour of the Continent, he enjoyed 
a season of literary companionship in London, and of 
wanderings through England and Scotland, when he 
was suddenly thrown upon his own resources by the 
fiiilure of his brother's house, in which he was a 
partner. 

Irving now wrote the '* Sketch Book," and sent it to 
New York, where it was published, in 18 18, in a serial 
form. It was subsequently published in London by 
Murray; but this was brought about by the persua- 



76 WASHINGTON IRVING. 

slon of Scott (who had read and enjoyed an American 
copy of the " Knickerbocker ") after Murray had once 
dechned it. This work was at once accepted as classic, 
and the author's reputation was placed upon a per- 
manent basis. The judicious variety of subjects, the 
dehcate pathos and humor, the freshness of feehng, 
and the finish of style it exhibited, together with the 
fact that it was the work of an author born and reared 
in a country supposed to possess neither learning nor 
refinement, made the appearance of the " Sketch 
Book " a literary event. Irving's next work, " Brace- 
bridge Hall," written in Paris, where he had been a 
companion of Moore, appeared in London in 1822. 
Though successful, it was thought to be over-refined 
in style. The following winter was spent in Dresden, 
where he was much in gay society, and took part in 
private theatricals ; and the next season in Paris, 
where he was the friend and adviser of J. Howard 
Payne, the dramatist. In December, 1824, he pub- 
lished the " Tales of a Traveller." He was commis- 
sioned in 1825 by Alexander H. Everett, then minis- 
ter to Spain, to make translations of newly-discovered 
papers m Madrid, referring to Columbus. This led 
to the composition of the admirable " History of the 
Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus," pub- 
lished in 1828, followed by the " Voyages and Discov- 
eries of the Companions of Columbus." During his 
residence in Spain he also collected the materials 
for the " Conquest of Granada," " The Alhambra," 
" Legends of the Conquest of Spain," and *' Mahomet 
and his Successors." 



WASHINGTON IRVL\G. J'J 

In 1829 Irving was appointed secretary of lega- 
tion to the American embassy in London, and in 
1832 returned to New York, wiiere he was welcomed 
at a public dinner. He next made a trip beyond 
the Mississippi, and shortly after gave to the public 
" A Tour on the Prairies." This was followed by 
''Astoria," "The Adventures of Captain Tonneville," 
and a volume of miscellanies entitled " Wolfert's 
Roost." In 1841 he published the " Life of Mar- 
garet Davidson," with an edition of her poetical 
works. The next year he was appointed minister to 
Spain. On his return, four years later, he published 
his biography of Oliver Goldsmith. His last and 
most elaborate work was his " Life of Washington," 
in five volumes. 

The last years of Irvlng's life were spent at his 
country-seat, " Sunnyside," near Tarrytown, N. Y., 
the scene of his " Legend of Sleepy Hollow." He 
was never married. In his youth he was betrothed to 
Miss Matilda Hoffman, who died in her eighteenth 
year. He remained faithful to her memory ; and her 
Bible, kept for so many years, was upon a table at his 
bedside when he died. He enjoyed the society of 
loving relatives and friends, for whom he always kept 
open house ; and he retained his self-denying, cheer- 
ful temper, his simple tastes and unostentatious habits, 
to the last. His death occurred November 28, 1859. 
His Letters and Memoirs were edited by his nephew, 
Pierre M. Irving. 

It is not difficult to assign Irving's place among our 
authors. Thackeray happily spoke of him as ''the 



78 JOHN PIERPONT. 

first ambassador whom the New World of Letters 
sent to the Old." In our lighter literature he is 
almost without a rival as an artist. He is equally 
happy in his delineations of scenery and character. 
His works have all an admirable proportion; nothing 
necessary is omitted, and needless details are avoided. 
He never fatigues us by learned antithesis, nor by 
labored ornament. In short, we can say that his 
style is unsurpassed in its fluency, grace, and pic- 
turesque eftect. The vivacity of his youth never 
wholly deserted him ; although he ceased writing 
humorous works, it served to animate his graver his- 
tories, and to give them a charm which the mere 
annalist could not attain. Irving's life, on the whole, 
was fortunate; his fame came in season for him to 
enjoy it; his works brought him his bread, honestly 
earned, and not merely the monumental stone. Other 
authors may perhaps excite more of wonder or of 
keen admiration, but Irving will be remembered with 
delight and love. 



JOHN PIERPONT. 

TOHN PIERPONT was born in Litchfield, Conn., 
^ April 6, 1785. He received his education at 
Yale College, graduating in 1804, and then passed 
four years as a teacher in South Carolina. He studied 
law in the then famous school at Litchfield, Conn., 



JOHN PIERrONT. 79 

and began practice at Nevvburyport, Mass. He had 
neither the means nor the inchnation to wait for 
the slow tide of success in his profession, and was 
induced to go into mercantile business with his 
brother-in-law, Mr. Lord, and John Neal. Though 
the firm prospered for a while, the rapid decline in 
prices after the war of 181 2 swamped their little capi- 
tal in a few months. Mr. Pierpont then studied for 
the ministry, and was settled over Hollis Street Church 
in Boston. His ardent advocacy of the temperance 
and antislavery causes displeased a portion of his 
congregation, and at length, in 1845, he asked for a 
dismissal, and removed to Troy, N. Y. He remained 
in his new field of labor four years, when he accepted 
a call from a church in Medford, Mass. In his later 
years he became a Spiritualist, and no longer acted 
with his former Unitarian brethren. He was employed 
for a few years in the treasury department at Wash- 
ington, in making a digest of decisions. He died in 
Medford, August 27, 1866. 

Mr. Pierpont was a man of talent in many direc- 
tions. He had mechanical skill, especially in en- 
graving and in turning delicate figures. One of his 
inventions, says John Neal, " the * Pierpont or Doric 
Stove,' was a bit of concrete philosophy, — a cast-iron 
syllogism of itself, so classically just in its propor- 
tions, and so eminently characteristic, as to be a type 
of the author." Mr. Neal thinks that Pierpont's first 
choice, the law, w^ould have been his true sphere, and 
that he would have been a leader in the profession if 
he had been willing to Vv'ait. His first poem, ''The 



8o JOHN PIERrONT. 

Portrait," written at Newburyport, has some vigorous 
lines, though in palpable imitation of the style of 
Campbell. " The Airs of Palestine," published in 
Baltimore, contains many beautiful passages. Of 
hymns for ordinations and dedications he wrote a 
great number that still hold their place in the collec- 
tions for public worship. He wrote also a great many 
odes for various occasions, as well as poems upon re- 
formatory subjects. Few of his pieces have the com- 
pleteness that belongs to enduring works; but in 
almost all of them there are traces of fire, and here 
and there are couplets that any poet might be proud 
to own. 

Mr. Pierpont was tall and vigorous In person, very 
animated in conversation, and full of an ultra-apostolic 
zeal. He was thoroughly honest, fearless, and out- 
spoken. With more suavity and more tact he would 
have had a pleasanter pathway through the w^orld ; 
but then he would not have been John Pierpont. 
His life-long friend, John Neal, contributed an 
interesting brief memoir of him to the " Atlantic 
Monthly," December, 1866. 



RICHARD HENRY DANA. 



RICHARD HENRY DANA. 

piCHARD HENRY DANA was bom in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., November 15, 1787. He re- 
mained three years in Harvard College, and afterward 
finished the usual collegiate education at Newport, 
R. L He was admitted to the bar in 1811, but did 
not remain in the profession long, being drawn by his 
natural tastes into literary pursuits. He aided in 
estabhshing the *' North American Review" in 18 14, 
and in 18 18 was one of its editors. In 1821-22 he 
published *' The Idle Man," in numbers. His princi- 
pal poem, **The Buccaneer," appeared in 1827, and 
was recognized as a production of originality and 
power. His collected Works in prose and verse were 
published in two volumes in 1850. He edited the 
Works and wrote the memoir of his brother-in-law, 
Allston. He wrote also a series of lectures upon 
Shakespeare, which were delivered in many of our 
principal cities. Mr. Dana lived to a serene old age, 
passing his summers at his sea-side home in Man- 
chester, Mass., and his winters in Boston. He was 
seldom seen in public, but the frequenters of classi- 
cal concerts and of Emerson's lectures were familiar 
with his intellectual features and long, silvery hair. 
He died February 2, 1879. 

The Works of Mr. Dana are neither numerous 
nor popular. His ideas, whether in poems or essays, 
were addressed to the thinking few, and undoubtedly 



82 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 

did much to mould the public taste. His literary Hfe 
began when the rhymed couplets of Pope were 
thought to be the highest form of poetical expression ; 
he lived to see the decline of that artificial school, 
and the rise of the nobler philosophical poetry of 
Wordsworth and his successors. 

In the '* Fable for Critics " there is a characteristic 
passage, a couplet from which may survive: — 

" There goes Dana abstractedly loitering along, 
Involved in a paulo-post-future of song." 



JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 

TAMES FENIMORE COOPER was born in Bur- 
lington, N. J., September 15, 1789. His father. 
Judge William Cooper, became possessed of large 
tracts of land in the State of New York, on the shores 
of Lake Otsego, and removed there during the infancy 
of our author. The prominent position he occupied 
as a gentleman of wealth, culture, and energy in a 
new country is brought to view in the character of 
Judge Temple in " The Pioneers." Young Cooper 
was sent to Yale College at the age of thirteen ; but 
he does not appear to have made any figure there, 
and at the end of his third year he entered the United 
States navy as a common sailor. After two years 
service he was promoted to the rank of midshipman, 



JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 83 

and eventually to that of lieutenant. Upon his mar- 
riage, in 1 81 1, he left the service, and a few years 
later began his career as an author. His first novel, 
** Precaution," published in 18 19, followed popular 
English models, and gave no indication of his powers, 
nor of the field he was to occupy. " The Spy," the 
first of his truly original work, appeared in 1821. 

The novel-reading public had been accustomed to 
depend wholly upon foreign literature ; no works of 
fiction worth reading had been produced in the United 
States, except the powerful but intensely disagreeable 
novels of Charles Brockden Brown. The early home 
of Cooper had been upon the border of the wilderness ; 
he knew Indians and hunters, and was familiar with 
all the incidents of frontier life. During his term of 
naval service he had acquired a thorough knowledge 
of sailors and of nautical affairs. When he turned 
his attention to writing, his mind was stored with vivid 
pictures of the woods and of the scenery of the sea; 
and he produced in rapid succession a series of fas- 
cinating novels, abounding in stirring incidents, and 
presenting some characters new to the world of fiction. 
The effect upon the public mind was prodigious ; the 
novels were received with an enthusiasm of which the 
present generation can have but a faint idea. His 
Works are too numerous to be mentioned in detail; 
in any one of the thirty-two volumes of the last edition 
may be seen a complete list. The most popular sea 
novels are " The Pilot " and " The Red Rover." " The 
Spy," a tale of the Revolutionary War, is his best 
work, and the one by which he first became known. 



84 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 

The tales of frontier life are numerous, and nearly all 
excellent: "The Pioneers," "The Deerslayer," "The 
Pathfinder," " The Prairie," " The Last of the Mohi- 
cans," are among the best. His tales have a perma- 
nent charm, since they are based upon Nature, and are 
constructed with great skill. In some elements, how- 
ever, their merit is unequal : his original characters 
are not numerous, and the same persons, under differ- 
ent names, reappear in successive stories as in a mas- 
querade; besides, as Lowell says, — • 

" The women he draws, from one model don't vary ; 
All sappy as maples, and flat as a prairie." 

If Cooper had been content to please his country- 
men with his delightful fictions, his life would have 
been far happier. But he was a man of decided 
opinions, and endowed with the talent for criticism, 
as well as with the courage to present his strictures 
in a blunt way. In " Homeward Bound," and " Home 
as Found," and other works, he commented upon blem- 
ishes in our national character with so little reserve as 
to draw upon him a storm of newspaper abuse. He 
retorted by prosecutions for libel, and at one time had 
about twenty suits on hand. He generally gained his 
cases, but the results were barren of honor or profit. 
His " History of the United States Navy" also caused 
a controversy, because it was alleged he had not been 
quite just in his allotment of praise to the different 
commanders. 

Cooper was a tall, robust man, and very animated 
in expression. Though always conscious of his birth 



CATHARINE M. SEDGWICK. 85 

and social rank, he possessed a generous and kindly 
nature. He died in Cooperstown, N. Y., September 
14, 1851. 



CATHARINE M. SEDGWICK. 

pATHARINE MARIA SEDGWICK, daughter 
of Judge Theodore Sedgwick, was born in 
Stockbridge, Mass., on the 28th day of December, 
1789. She was descended from a family in which 
talent was hereditary, and the influence of her dis- 
tinguished father and brothers early directed her 
attention to literature. Her first work, '• A New Eng- 
land Tale," was published in 1822. This was fol- 
lowed, in 1824, by ''Redwood," and in 1827 by 
"Hope Leslie," the best of her novels, especially 
valuable as a picture of primitive manners, and as a 
transcript of the thought and opinion of a now half- 
forgotten age. *' Clarence : A Tale of the Present 
Day," appeared in 1830; '' The Linwoods," a romance 
of the Revolution, in 1835. She also wrote a series of 
popular works, of which the principal ones are " Live 
and Let Live," " The Poor Rich Man and Rich Poor 
Man," '* Means and Ends," and '* Home." Having 
made a European tour, she published, on her return 
in 1 841, her " Letters from Abroad to Kindred at 
Home." Her " Memoir of Lucretia Maria David- 
son " appeared in Sparks's ''American Biography." 
Her last novel, published in 1857, was entitled " Mar- 



86 LYDIA (HUNTLEY) SIGOURNEY. 

ried or Single." A biography of Joseph Curtis, a 
philanthropist of New York, published in 1858, was 
her last work. This extended list, together with 
magazine articles and miscellanies, forms a fitting 
record of a long and useful life. She died in Stock- 
bridge, July 20, 1867. 

Miss Sedgwick's style was very attractive ; her love 
of Nature was strong, and her sympathies were ready 
and active. Her novels had a wide popularity, both 
in English and in the many languages into which 
they were translated, and a number of them are 
eagerly read by the new generations. A collection 
of her letters, with a brief narrative to connect them, 
was published by Miss Dewey. 



LYDIA (HUNTLEY) SIGOURNEY. 

I YDIA (HUNTLEY) SIGOURNEY was born 
^ in Norwich, Conn., September i, 1791. She 
early manifested poetic talent, and composed verses 
at the age of seven. She received a careful edu- 
cation, with such advantages as the country then 
afforded. In her nineteenth year she removed to 
Hartford, and opened a young ladies' school. Her 
first volume, entitled '' Moral Pieces in Prose and 
Verse," appeared not long after. In 18 19 she was 
married to Mr. Charles Sigourney, of Hartford, and 
lived in that citv for the remainder of her life. 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 8/ 

Mrs. Sigourney was a most prolific writer, having 
published no less than forty-five volumes, consisting 
of poems, biographies, tales, and miscellanies. (The 
reader will find a list in Duyckinck's Cyclopedia, 
vol. ii., p. 137.) Her poems have a musical flow, and 
are inspired with deep religious feeling; her thoughts 
are not profound, but are expressed in clear phrase, 
and are frequently enlivened by poetic fancy. Many 
of her productions have qualities that should preserve 
them, and a judicious collection would undoubtedly 
be welcome, especially with religious readers. Her 
death occurred June 10, 1865. 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 

r^HARLES SPRAGUE was born in Boston, Octo- 
^^ ber 24, 1 79 1. He entered into mercantile life 
at a very early age, and was indebted for his intellec- 
tual cultivation solely to his own efforts. He was 
appointed cashier of the Globe Bank in 1825, hold- 
ing the office until 1864, when he retired from active 
life. He obtained the prize offered for an ode for 
the opening of the Park Theatre in New York, in 
1 82 1, and subsequently wrote odes for a number of 
similar occasions. That which he recited at the 
Shakespeare celebration in Boston, in 1823, has been 
greatly admired ; it is a carefully elaborated poem, 
and gives pictures of the prominent creations of the 



88 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 

great dramatist in a vivid light. In 1825, on the 
Fourth of July, he delivered the annual oration be- 
fore the municipal authorities of Boston. This pro- 
duction has been "got by heart" by more than one 
generation. The sentiment is elevated and philan- 
thropic, and the style animated and smoothly finished, 
though with rather too much of formal antithesis in 
its balanced periods. No one of the line of civic 
orators has had such a popular success. In 1830 
he wrote an ode for the centennial celebration of 
the city, which is the best of his longer poems. 
His poems were few in number, but graceful and 
melodious. 

Mr. Sprague died January 14, 1875. His writings 
were published in one volume, i2mo, Boston, 1850. 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 

VyiLLIAM CULLEN BRYANT was born in 
Cummington, Mass., November 3, 1794. He 
was carefully educated under the advice of his father, 
who was a physician and a man of superior talents 
and attainments. The son was named for a medical 
writer in Scotland. Like most poets, he began rhym- 
ing early, and two of his productions were published 
in a thin volume while he was under fourteen years 
of age. '• Thanatopsis" was printed in the ''North 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 89 

American Review " when he was but nineteen. He 
entered Williams College in 18 10, but remained only 
two years, and then began the study of law. After 
being admitted to the bar, he continued in the pro- 
fession nearly ten years, when, in 1825, he removed 
to New York city, and thenceforth gave his time to 
Hterary pursuits. He became connected with the 
" Evening Post" in 1826, and during his Hfe remained 
one of the editors and proprietors of that journal. 
His residence was at Roslyn, L. I. He made several 
visits to Europe, besides travelling extensively in 
this country. The accounts which he published of 
his various journeys show his keen observation and 
enjoyment of Nature. In his youth Bryant was as- 
sociated with R. C. Sands and G. C. Verplanck in 
editing *' The Talisman ; " and he wrote much and ably 
in prose in his long career; but his fame as a poet 
has overshadowed his prose works. His verse is 
characterized by smoothness and elegance, but its 
polish is not superficial ; there are no meaningless 
lines tolerated for melody alone ; the current of 
thought and the results of poetic observation are so 
arranged by a nice instinct that one might suppose 
the combination had been predestined. Bryant has 
been said to be an imitator of Wordsworth ; and it is 
true that his poems are characterized by the same in- 
tense love of Nature, — especially of mountains, for- 
ests, and streams, — the same contemplative mood, 
the same exclusion of human passions, the same 
absence of gayety and humor, which we find in the 
philosophical poet of England. Indeed, few poets 



90 . WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 

of that time escaped Wordsworth's influence. But 
the Nature Bryant loved was under American and not 
under Enghsh skies; and if he drew his early inspira- 
tion from that great master, he acquired power to de- 
velop a style of his own, and could not be considered 
an imitator. The poem which is, perhaps, the highest 
expression of his genius, and the best known of any 
American poem, is " Thanatopsis," before mentioned. 
There is not, probably, an educated man now living 
among our English race in whose mind this solemn 
and beautiful meditation is not associated with '* the 
last bitter hour." Its pictured phrases recur at every 
coming up of the grisly thought that haunts us all. 
Its serene philosophy has touched thousands who 
could never reason calmly for themselves upon the 
inevitable order of Nature. It leaves a clear impres- 
sion upon the memory that defies the blur of mis- 
quotation, for its well-chosen words are united into 
imperishable forms b}^ the cohesive power of genius. 

Among Bryant's later works were his admirable 
translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. Blank verse, 
to be sure, has not much of the music of the original 
hexameters, but the spirit of the poems has seldom 
been more faithfully presented. 

The poet has probably been the severest critic 
upon his own productions. We cannot recall a 
single poem which we could wish omitted from the 
collection. 

There can be no question that Bryant has won a 
lasting place as the eldest and among the noblest of 
American poets. The chief defect in his poems is 



EDWARD EVERETT. 9 1 

the lack of human sympathy; but in one of them, 
" The Future Life," there is a throb of emotion 
which assures us that his heart was not moved by 
inanimate Nature alone. In his newspaper he ad- 
vocated the docrine of universal freedom. He died 
June 12, 1878. 



EDWARD EVERETT. 

CD WARD EVERETT was born in Dorchester, 
■^ Mass., April 11, 1794. He entered Harvard 
College at the age of thirteen, and was graduated 
with the highest honors. On leaving college he was 
appointed tutor, the duties of this position not inter- 
fering with his pursuing at the same time the study 
of divinity. He was settled in Boston as pastor of 
the Brattle Street Church, and very soon attracted 
great attention by his scholarly discourses. In 1 8 14 
he was appointed professor of Greek literature at 
Cambridge, being allowed time for travel and study 
abroad before beginning his duties. He spent four 
years in Europe, visiting the principal cities and seats 
of learning, and extending his researches into a wide 
range of subjects. On his return, he gave a bril- 
liant series of college lectures, of which Emerson 
has given an animated account, and, besides, con- 
ducted the "North American Review." In 1824 he 
delivered an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa So- 



92 EDWARD EVERETT. 

ciety of Harvard. The occasion was distinguished 
by the presence of Lafayette, and the orator's refer- 
ence to the nation's guest in the closing paragraph 
was especially happy. Indeed the whole oration, as 
we can readily believe, produced an extraordinary 
effect. It was as carefully studied as though it were 
to be judged in silence by critical readers, and was 
pronounced with an energy, tempered with unob- 
trusive art, which literary men are apt to neglect, 
and by which literary audiences, just as readily as 
the unlearned, are surprised into enthusiasm. 

In 1824 Mr. Everett was elected a member of Con- 
gress, and continued to represent his district for ten 
years, when he was chosen governor. After serving 
four terms, he was defeated in 1839 by Marcus 
Morton, by a majority of one vote. In 1841 he was 
appointed minister to England by President Harrison. 
Upon his return to the United States in 1845, he was 
chosen president of Harvard University; but he found 
the official routine irksome, and resigned at the end 
of three years. In 1852 he was appointed secretary 
of state by President Fillmore, to fill the vacancy 
caused by the death of Daniel Webster. In the 
spring of 1853 he was chosen a member of the 
United States Senate, but his health was so much 
impaired by the duties and anxieties of the office that 
he resigned in May, 1854. He became deeply inter- 
ested in the plan of purchasing Mount Vernon, and 
delivered his oration on Washington in all the princi- 
pal cities of the country for the benefit of the fund. 
The amount so contributed by him for this patriotic 



EDWARD EVERETT. 93 

purpose exceeded fifty thousand dollars. He died in 
Boston, January 15, 1865. 

It is evident from this brief summary that Mr. 
Everett was a man of rare powers and rarer cultiva- 
tion. He might truly say, " What could I have done 
unto my vineyard that I have not done unto it ? " 
From his infancy he seemed to have been marked 
out for a scholar, and through his hfe he enjoyed 
exceptional advantages in acquiring knowledge and 
the best use of his naturally brilliant faculties. His 
orations were composed for widely differing oc- 
casions, but in each case the treatment is so masterly 
that one would think the subject then in hand had 
been the special study of his life. But his care did 
not cease with the preparation ; his voice, gestures, 
and cadences were always in harmony with his 
theme, so that he was absolute master of his audi- 
ence. It is seldom that the literary annalist has to 
record a career in which the preacher and essayist is 
developed by natural growth into the statesman and 
diplomatist, while his scholastic tastes and habits 
grow in parallel lines, and the man at threescore is 
an epitome of the knowledge and an exemplar of the 
eloquence of his generation. 

Mr. Everett's political career, though an honorable 
one, was not highly successful. He was a cold man, 
and was not in the least popular, except in academic 
circles, when off the platform. He was naturally a 
conservative, and success more frequently waits upon 
the advocate of positive ideas ; and, besides, at the 
time of his senatorial career conservatism was no 



94 EDWARD EVERETT. 

longer in accordance with the temper of the majority 
in his State. Though he might not have been defi- 
cient in moral courage, — and he certainly took no 
pains to conceal his opinions, — he was at times 
placed where downright Saxon would have been 
more to the purpose than his gracefully turned 
phrases. His natural sensitiveness and his exces- 
sive refinement made him shrink from the personal 
sacrifices which a popular leader must make, and 
from the sharp contests with opponents in high 
places which it is political suicide to shun. 

Mr. Everett's works are always interesting to the 
reader. Open a volume at random, and the thought 
at once engages attention. It is true we do not find 
passages, like those in Webster's speeches, which 
come upon us like thunder-strokes ; but, on the other 
hand, there are fewer arid spaces. Webster is often 
uninteresting, if not dull, for pages together. Everett, 
if he never astonishes, never fails to delight. 

Mr. Everett's Works are comprised in four volumes, 
8vo. He edited also the Works of Webster, and 
wrote an introductory biography. 



J 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 95 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 

OSEPH RODMAN DRAKE was born in New 
York city, August 7, I795- The death of his 
father left the family in adverse circumstances; the 
young poet, however, obtained a good education, 
and began the study of medicine. He was married, 
a few months after coming of age, to the daughter 
of a wealthy merchant, and so had no further 
struggles for a livelihood. In 1819 the symptoms 
of consumption appeared, and he went to New 
Orleans to pass the winter. The mild climate hav- 
ing no power to arrest the disease, he returned home 
in the spring, and died on the 21st day of Septem- 
ber following. 

Drake began by writing verses, mostly of a satirical 
sort, which were published in the New York ** Evenin 
Post," and signed "Croaker." Soon after, he was 
joined in this pleasantry by Fitz-Greene Halleck, and 
their productions appeared as the work of a partner- 
ship, " Croaker & Co." '• The Culprit Fay," which is 
the longest and best of his poems, was written, it is 
said, in three days. It is a bright and delicate con- 
ceit; and though Shakespeare and earlier poets fur- 
nished most of the '' properties " (in stage parlance), 
the scenery is local, and the management of the story, 
without the introduction of any mortals, is the author's 
own. Speculations upon what might have happened 
are not always satisfactory, but it is easy to believe 



cr 



g6 FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 

that if Drake had Hved long enough to mature his 
powers and perfect his art, he might have occupied a 
high place among poets. 



FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 

piTZ-GREENE HALLECK was born in Guilford, 
^ Conn., July 8, 1795. He removed to New York 
at the age of eighteen, and entered a banking-house 
as clerk, afterward becoming book-keeper in the office 
of John Jacob Astor. On the death of Mr. Astor, 
in 1848, he retired to his native town, where he re- 
sided until his death, which occurred November 19, 
1867. 

Some of Halleck's earliest productions were printed 
with Drake's, and signed " Croaker & Co." The poet 
did not consider them worth preserving, though their 
local hits made them popular at the time. His long- 
est poem is entitled *' Fanny; " it is not above me- 
diocrity. "Marco Bozzaris" is doubtless the most 
popular and perhaps the most brilliant of his poems, 
and its sonorous lines are recited in all the school- 
houses. His tribute to Burns is charming in its spirit, 
and contains some noble and memorable stanzas. 
There is also a touching and beautiful tribute to the 
memory of his friend Drake, beginning, — 

" Green be the turf above thee, 
Friend of my better days." 



JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY. 97 

The life of Halleck appears devoid of incident, and 
his productions are in a very narrow compass. Still, 
his versification is finished, and the best of his poems 
have a telling quality, like those of his favorite, Camp- 
bell ; and his name bids fair to outlast many that are 
connected with more pretentious works. 



JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY. 

JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY was born in 
Baltimore, Md., October 25, 1795, and received 
his education at the College of Baltimore. He was 
admitted to the bar in 18 16. He entered political 
life in 1820, as a member of the House of Delegates. 
He was a representative in Congress for several terms, 
and was one of the recognized leaders of the Whig 
party. 

Mr. Kennedy's first attempts in literature were in the 
columns of a periodical, entitled " The Red Book." 
" Swallow Barn," a volume of sketches of rural life 
in Virginia, was published in 1832. *' Horseshoe 
Robinson," a story of the Revolution, appeared in 
1835. This is a novel of considerable merit, founded 
upon actual events, and dealing with historical per- 
sonages. In 1849 he gave to the public an elaborate 
Life of William Wirt, in two volumes, 8vo. He pub- 
lished also occasional addresses, etc. Mr. Kennedy 
was a fluent and often elegant writer, and showed in 



98 JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. 

his descriptions a love of the beautiful and a refined 
taste. He continued to reside in his native city, and 
took a deep interest in its welfare. He was one of the 
trustees selected by Mr. Peabody for the institute of 
letters and art established in Baltimore. He died 
August 1 8, 1870. His Life, written by Henry T. 
Tuckerman, appeared the same year. 



JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. 

TAMES GATES PERCIVAL was born in the 
parish of Kensington and town of Berlin, Conn., 
September 15, 1795. He entered Yale College at the 
age of sixteen, and a year after his graduation began 
the study of medicine. He was not successful as a 
practitioner, principally because the profession was 
distasteful to him. He was for a brief period a pro- 
fessor at West Point, and afterward a surgeon con- 
nected with the recruiting service in Boston. He 
removed to New Hav,en in 1827, where he revised the 
translation of Malte Brun's Geography, and assisted 
Dr. Noah Webster in the preparation of his quarto 
Dictionary. In 1834 he was appointed by the gov- 
ernor to make a geological survey of the State. The 
work proved much greater than was expected, and 
his report was not published until 1842. In 1853 he 
went to Wisconsin to make a similar survey of that 
State, and remained there until his death, which 
occurred at Hazel Green, May 2, 1857. 



JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. 99 

Dr. Percival was an eminent scholar, not only in his 
special pursuits, but in linguistic studies. He was 
familiar with many ancient languages, and with the 
dialects of the Norse, Gaelic, Sclavonic, and other 
modern tongues. His poems, which are numerous, 
were generally written in haste, and with little revision. 
A few editions were published at intervals, but they 
did not meet with popular success, and the poet was 
for most of his life miserably poor. His constitutional 
melancholy was intensified by his failure to receive 
sympathy and applause; and some of his bitter lines, 
with the interpretation which his misfortunes furnish, 
leave a most painful impression. 

Percival's poetry (though more highly esteemed 
forty years ago) fails to answer the reader's expecta- 
tions, or to hold the attention beyond half a dozen 
pages. He undoubtedly had a perception of the 
beauty of Nature, and there are frequent glimpses of 
this beauty in his poems ; but they are fragmentary, 
scattered hints, rather than completed pictures, and 
remind us of the " broken crockery " school in the 
sister art of music. His thoughts, or rather his 
phrases, deflected by the turning corners of rhyme, 
run away with him, taking a new direction in every 
verse, and leading into eddies of words that even his 
friend the lexicographer could not have helped him 
out of, and which make the perplexed reader wonder 
where, when, and how the many-jointed sentence is 
going to end. Percival had his poetic visions, doubt- 
less, but he neglected the continuous labor and 
thought which might have shaped his conceptions into 



100 JOHN GORHAM PALFREY. 

forms of enduring beauty. His name and his Works 
belong to the Hterary history of the country, but 
only a few of his simpler poems, including some 
fine sonnets, will remain to justify in some measure 
his reputation among his contemporaries. His poems 
were published in two volumes, i8mo. 



JOHN GORHAM PALFREY. 

JOHN GORHAM PALFREY was born in Boston, 
May 2, 1796, and was graduated at Harvard 
College in 181 5. He studied for the ministry, and 
was ordained as pastor of the Brattle Street Church 
in Boston, succeeding Edward Everett in that position. 
In 1 83 1 he was appointed a professor in the Divinity 
School at Cambridge, and held the chair till 1839, 
when he resigned, and left the clerical profession. 
He was editor of the " North American Review " from 
1835 to 1842. He was secretary of the Common- 
wealth from 1844 to 1847, when he was chosen a rep- 
resentative in Congress. At that session the contest 
between the North and South for the speakership was 
unusually violent. Robert C. VVinthrop was the can- 
didate of the Whigs, and Howell Cobb of the Demo- 
crats. Dr. Palfrey, who was a distinctive antislavery 
man, and had previously emancipated certain slaves 
which he had inherited from a Southern relative, per- 
sistently voted for a third party candidate, so that 
Mr. Cobb was elected. 



JOHN GORHAM PALFREY. lOI 

This action caused great excitement in Massachu- 
setts/ and when Dr. Palfrey was brought forward for 
re-election, after seventeen trials in which there was 
no choice, he was defeated. He retired from public 
life from that time, although he was afterward post- 
master of Boston. He died in Cambridge, April 26, 
1881. 

Dr. Palfrey's earlier and professional Works are 
*' Evidences of Christianity," two vols., 8vo. (1843) 5 
" Lectures on the Jewish Scriptures and Antiquities," 
four vols., 8vo. (1838-52); also a *' Harmony of the 
Gospels," and various sermons and lectures. His 
last work, which is more properly within our view, is 
his "History of New P^ngland," a full and able ac- 
count of the beginnings of the eastern colonies, and 
without any rival in its field. The work consists of 
five volumes, bringing the narrative down to 1688. 

Dr. Palfrey's style is clear and exact. It is lacking 
in vivacity, but it shows conscientious care, and is 
free from the verbiage that sometimes passes for 
rhetorical ornament. 



fc>' 



^ See in Biglow Papers, first series, No. 4, beginnin 

" No ? Hez he ? He haint though ! Wut ? Voted agin him ? 
Ef the bird of our country could ketch him, she 'd skin him ! " 



02 HORACE MANN. 



HORACE MANN. 



IT GRACE MANN was born in Franklin, Mass., 
May 4, 1796. His parents were poor, and his 
early life was a season of hard work, with few of the 
circumstances that give to boyhood its long-remem- 
bered charms. He fitted for college in six months, by 
an amount of labor that did him a lifelong injury, and 
entered the sophomore class in Brown University at 
the age of twenty. He studied law and settled in 
Dedham, but afterward removed to Boston. He was 
elected to the State senate in 1836, and the following 
year was chosen Secretary of the State Board of 
Education. The school system of Massachusetts, in 
its present efficiency, was almost wholly created by 
Mr. Mann's heroic efforts and personal sacrifices. 
Ignorance and routine stood in the way, and his diary 
records only a series of struggles made under all kinds 
of discouragements. He continued in this office for 
twelve years, during which time he made a series of 
annual reports which form a library of educational 
science. Upon the death of John Ouincy Adams, he 
was chosen to represent his district in Congress, and 
remained in that service six years, giving his whole 
heart and soul to the antislavery cause. In 1853 he 
was invited to become president of Antioch College 
at Yellow Springs, Ohio. His life there was full of 
anxiety and toil. The college was new, in debt, and 
v/anting in almost all things. Many of the persons 
with whom he was associated did not share in his 



WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. IO3 

aspirations for a high standard of attainment. Phy- 
sical discomforts were numerous and annoying. He 
h'ved to see great improvements in the college, but 
not until he was worn out, mind and body, by his Hfe 
of excessive labor. He died August 2, 1859. His 
remains rest in a burying-ground at Providence, R. I. 
His statue in bronze stands in the State House yard 
in Boston, opposite to that of Webster. 

The writings of Mr. Mann are full of good sense 
and apt illustrations, and are clear and often elegant 
in style. His Life, written by his wife, with selections 
from his Works, has been published, in five volumes, 
8vo., by Lee & Shepard, Boston. 



WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. 

V\7ILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT was born 
in Salem, Mass, May 4, 1796. He entered 
Harvard College in 181 1, and had intended on grad- 
uation to study law, but an injury to one of his eyes, 
received while in college, so far impaired his sight 
that his plans in life were changed. He went to 
Plurope to consult eminent oculists, but received no 
benefit from their treatment. After two years he 
returned home and began literary studies, with the 
aid of a reader and amanuensis. His first work, the 
'' History of Ferdinand and Isabella," appeared in 
1837, having cost the author more than ten years 



I04 WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. 

of labor. '* The Conquest of Mexico " was published 
in 1843, and the "Conquest of Peru" in 1847. He 
next undertook the " History of Phihp H, ; " two vol- 
umes were published in 1855, and a third in 1858. 
The work was unfinished at the time of his death, 
which occurred in Boston, January 28, 1859. 

By common consent, Prescott is accorded a leading 
place among historians. In spite of his partial blind- 
ness, his surroundings were highly fortunate. He 
inherited a good but not a great intellect, had scho- 
lastic training, abundant wealth, the aid of friendly 
criticism, and the choice of new and untrodden fields. 
His histories are based on a thorough study of origi- 
nal documents, and are composed with exceeding 
care. Contrary to the usual tendency, his fondness 
for pictorial effect seemed to increase, and his last 
work is, more than any former one, filled with brilliant 
scenes and episodes. But he was not a philosopher, 
and made no attempt to deduce the political and 
moral laws of history; and, besides, he is often cool 
in the narration of atrocities which would make most 
men's sentences blaze with indignation. 

Besides the histories mentioned, Prescott wrote a 
continuation of Robertson's " History of Charles V.," 
giving an account of the cloister life of that monarch. 
He published, also, a volume of miscellanies, mostly 
essays, written for the " North American Review." 

Mr. Prescott was a tall and handsome man, with 
singularly pleasing manners and amiable character. 
His habits were methodical, and his ample fortune 
enabled him to gratify his tastes. He had three resi- 



WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. IO5 

deuces, — all charming in their way, — one in Beacon 
Street, Boston, facing the Common; one at Lynn, 
with a magnificent ocean view; and another at Pep- 
perell, the home of his grandfather, who commanded 
the American forces at the battle of Bunker Hill. 
His migrations accorded with the seasons ; and such 
was the perfection of his domestic arrangements that 
he had only to wish for a change, and, like Prince 
Houssain with his magic carpet, he found himself in 
the desired place, with his necessary books, and other 
conveniences, ready to his hand. His library in 
Boston was a beautiful room, filled with treasures of 
literature and art. The visitor upon entering might 
be surprised to find the author absent; but if it was 
a favorable time for receiving callers, a section of the 
shelves swung open, disclosing a passage to the plain 
upper room where the real work of the author was 
done. 

In the first chapter of Thackeray's "Virginians," 
the reader will see a reference to a pair of swords that 
belonged to Mr. Prescott. The swords are now in 
the rooms of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 

Mr. Prescott's histories have a great and undimin- 
ished popularity, both in England and America. In 
a single year over forty thousand volumes of his 
Works were sold by his Boston publishers. They 
belong to that small class of books which have a solid 
basis of fact, and at the same time the fascination of 
romance. This statement is not wholly true in regard 
to his " Mexico " and *' Peru." Later investigation 
seems to have made it probable that the Spanish 



I06 FRANCIS WAYLAND. 

authorities on which he rehed were not altogether 
trustworthy, and it may be that those works will 
eventually be superseded. His Life was written by 
George Ticknor, the historian of Spanish Literature. 



FRANCIS WAYLAND. 

CRANCIS WAYLAND was born in the city of 
* New York, March ii, 1796. He received his 
education at Union College, and gave three years to 
the study of medicine, in Troy, N. Y. ; but having 
joined the Baptist Church, he changed his original 
intention as to a profession, and entered Andover 
Theological Seminary. He was tutor four years at 
Union College, and was afterward settled in Boston 
as pastor of the First Baptist Church, where he re- 
mained five years. He was a professor at Union 
College for a few months, and was then (1827) chosen 
president of Brown University, at Providence, R. L 
His great practical talents, no less than his high 
qualities of intellect and commanding personal influ- 
ence, were soon felt in the prosperity and advanced 
standing of that institution. He brought about a 
change in the collegiate instruction, by which special 
courses were open to students, with corresponding 
degrees for proficiency. He resigned his office in 
1855, and died in Providence, September 30, 1865. 



WILLIAM WARE. lO/ 

Dr. Wayland was a man of power and originality 
of thought, and his tastes and studies incHned him to 
the pursuit of fundamental truths. His style was a 
reflex of his mental traits, — clear, cogent, and direct. 
His greatest work was his " Elements of Moral 
Science," which has long been a standard text-book. 
He also wrote the " Elements of Political Economy," 
a " Treatise on Intellectual Philosophy," " Limitations 
of Human Responsibility," a " Life of Adoniram 
Judson " the missionary, " Thoughts on the Collegiate 
System of the United States," besides several volumes 
of sermons. His sermon on the ** Moral Dignity of 
the Missionary Enterprise " is a powerful production, 
noble in its leading motive, and rising Into passages 
of true eloquence. 

Dr. Wayland was tali in stature, with a dignified 
presence, a massive, overhanging brow, and deep-set 
eyes. His manners were simple and affable, though 
habitually grave. 



WILLIAM WARE. 

VX/ILLIAM WARE was born in Hingham, Mass., 
August 3, 1797, and was graduated at Harvard 
College in 18 16. He entered the ministry, and 
preached in New York for sixteen years. He is the 
author of three historical romances that have gained 
for him a permanent reputation. The first (published 
in 1836) is *' Zenobia; Or, the Fall of Palmyra," — a 



I08 GEORGE BANCROFT. 

series of letters purporting to be written by a Roman, 
in which the splendors of the desert city, and its final 
overthrow by the Emperor Aurelian, are described. 
The work shows an intimate acquaintance not only 
with the history, but with the private life and manners 
of the age, and its style is vivid and picturesque. 
The second (1838) is entitled " Probus," and is a 
sequel of the narrative of Zenobia. The third (1841) 
is " Julian," a picture of the scenes and events in Judea 
during the latter years of Jesus Christ. " Zenobia " is 
the most brilliant of the series, but all possess a high 
order of merit. 

Mr. Ware was afterward settled over a church in 
West Cambridge, but resigned on account of ill health 
in 1845. He died in Cambridge, February 19, 1852. 
It is a curious link with the last century that he 
was the pupil in Italian of Da Ponte, author of the 
libretto of Mozart's opera, " Don Giovanni." 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 

pEORGE BANCROFT was born in Worcester, 
Mass., October 3, 1800, and was graduated at 
Harvard College in 1817. His college course was 
but the beginning of his education. He went to 
Europe, and pursued a great variety of studies for 
five years at Gottingen, Berlin, Heidelberg, Paris, and 
in several Italian cities, forming acquaintances with 



GEORGE BANCROFT. lOQ 

the most eminent scholars of the time. He appHed 
himself to modern languages and literature, also to 
Oriental languages, ancient history, and Greek philo- 
sophy. On his return in 1822 he was tutor at Har- 
vard College for a year, and had a share in bringing 
about the new birth of learning which in the end 
transformed that obscure provincial school into a 
noble university. The return of eminent Harvard 
graduates from Germany about that time (described 
with so much enthusiasm by Emerson) was an event 
most important in its results to the college. 

Bancroft was next connected, for one year, with the 
classical school at Round Hill, Northampton, Mass. 
The results of his study and observation had made 
him an advocate of universal suffrage and an un- 
compromising democrat. He was invited to enter 
political life, and was elected to the legislature with- 
out his consent; but he declined to serve, as he had 
already formed the project of writing a history of the 
United States. 

The first volume of the History appeared in 1834. 
The second volume was written in Springfield, in 
which place he resided for three years. In 1838 he 
was appointed collector of the port of Boston; but 
neither official duties nor party services drew his at- 
tention from historical composition, and his third 
volume was published in 1840. He was an unsuc- 
cessful candidate for governor in 1844, and the fol- 
lowing year was appointed secretary of the navy by 
President Polk. It was due to his efforts that the 
Naval Academy at Annapolis was established. In 



no GEORGE BANCROFT. 

1846 he was appointed minister to England, and re- 
mained abroad until 1849, when he returned and 
resumed his hterary work. The fourth and fifth 
volumes were published in 1852, the sixth in 1854, 
the seventh in 1858, the eighth in i860, the ninth in 
1866, the tenth in 1874. 

Bancroft wrote two other volumes upon the *' His- 
tory of the Formation of the Constitution of the 
United States," virtually a continuation of his larger 
work. There was also issued a condensed edition of 
the History in six volumes. These received a final 
revision in 1884-85. He continued literary work to 
the last, — a period of nearly sixty years from the 
publication of his first volume. His favorite recrea- 
tion was horseback riding, and his delight was in the 
cultivation of roses, — a taste which he shared with 
his fellow-historian Parkman. His manners were 
rather austere. He died in Washington, January 
17, 1891. 

The philosophical studies of Bancroft thoroughly 
prepared him for his great work. History, when it 
is merely a naked statement of events, is dry and 
comparatively profitless; it is only when it recog- 
nizes the laws of human progress, and the principles 
of ethics in government and social relations, that it 
makes intelligible sequences between causes and 
results, and vindicates the eternal supremacy of 
ideas in the apparently wayward course of events. 
Bancroft, more than almost any other, is a philoso- 
phical historian. The brave doctrines of the colo- 
nists and of the framers of republican constitutions 



GEORGE BANCROFT. Ill 

are in him an ever-living force. The modern ideas 
of the Hberty of the individual between moral lines, of 
the inviolability of conscience, and of the freedom 
of worship from control by Church or State, have in 
him an eloquent and fully armed defender. The 
sketches of the Puritans, of the Quakers, and of in- 
dividuals such as Penn and Roger Williams, are so 
justly discriminating, so earnest, so glowing with con- 
viction, that they fascinate every reader. The appli- 
cation of ** divine philosophy " is almost as new and 
beneficent as the discovery of the continent. It is 
worthy of observation that the doctrine of the 
" inner light" which distinguished the Quakers, and 
the sweet Christian toleration which Roger Williams 
was the first to preach in New England, were united 
in the faith of the Transcendentalists, to which 
Bancroft held, and which has been substantially the 
basis of our noblest literature, both in poetry and 
prose. 

The conscientious study of the documentary 
sources of American history carried on for the un- 
paralleled period of sixty years has had a worthy 
result; and it will be long before any similar task 
will be undertaken with any reasonable hope o\i 
greatly changing the conclusions arrived at. It must 
be admitted that Bancroft takes the part of Jeft'erson 
strongly against the Federalists ; but that is no 
longer a living issue, since the general convictions 
of the present generation, and the almost unbroken 
traditions of the government, have fully established 
the Jeffersonian doctrines. 



112 GEORGE PERKINS MARSH. 

Bancroft's style is perspicuous and forcible, and at 
times, when some important principle is discussed, 
has a quality of intimate conviction that is almost 
tender, and even passionate. But of style as a purely 
literary art, embracing originality and melody of 
diction, with delicacy of suggestion, and lightened by 
gleams of poetic imagination, he is not an eminent 
master. The interest and power of his work, how-* 
ever, do not depend upon style. It is broad-based, 
thorough, and enlightened, and is permeated with the 
principles to which our republic is irrevocably com- 
mitted. It ought to be conscientiously studied by 
every man and woman capable of comprehending its 
drift and profiting by its lessons. If one is asked by 
a foreigner for a reason for the faith that is in him, 
or for an account of ideas distinctly " American," he 
has only to refer to the masterly expositions of 
Bancroft. But it must be admitted that his works 
are not and never will be popular. 



GEORGE PERKINS MARSH. 



pEORGE PERKINS MARSH was born in 
^-^ Woodstock, Vt., March 17, 1 801, graduated 
at Dartmouth College in 1820, and died July 23, 
1882. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar 
in Burlington, Vt. He was chosen a representative 



THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY. II3 

In Congress in 1842, and remained in service until 
1849, when he was appointed minister to Constanti- 
nople. In 1852 he was sent on a special mission to 
Greece. On his return he was almost constantly in 
public service in his native State until 1 861, when he 
was appointed minister to Italy, where he remained 
until his death. 

Mr. Marsh was an eminent scholar in the northern 
languages of Europe, and held a high place among 
philologists. His principal work, entitled " Lectures 
on the English Language" (1861), is a treatise of 
great value and interest. He published an '* Ice- 
landic Grammar," a treatise ** On the Origin and 
History of the English Language and its Early 
Literature ; " ** Man and Nature ; Or, Physical Geo- 
graphy as Modified by Human Action;" **The 
Camel, His Organization, Habits, etc., with reference 
to his introduction into the United States ;" besides 
a great many philological and linguistic addresses 
and letters. 



THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY. 

"THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY was born 
in the city of New York, October 31, 1801. 
He received his education at Yale College, graduat- 
ing in 1820. He spent two years in the study of 
theology at Princeton, N. J., and two more as tutor at 
Yale. In 1831 he was appointed professor of Greek 



114 THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY. 

at Yale, and in 1846 was chosen president of the 
college, which place he held until 1871. He edited 
several Greek text-books, and was a frequent writer 
for the Reviews, especially the '' New Englander," 
which is published at New Haven. He published a 
treatise upon the elements of International Law in 
i860, and one upon Divorce in 1869. A volume of 
his university sermons appeared in 1871 under the 
title of " The Religion of the Present and the Future." 
Besides the foregoing he published (in 1877) " Politi- 
cal Science; Or, The State, Theoretically and 
Practically Considered ; " " Communism and Social- 
ism" (1880); "Helpful Thoughts for Young Men" 
(1882); also several smaller works. He edited new 
editions of Dr. Francis Lieber's " Civil Liberty " and 
" Manual of Political Ethics." 

Dr. Woolsey was conspicuous among American 
scholars for the extent and thoroughness of his 
learning, his power of thought, and his clear and 
admirable style. The moral elevation of his charac- 
ter gave great and almost authoritative weight to his 
opinions, especially upon questions of public law. 
During his long connection with Yale College his 
personal influence was constantly on the increase, 
and he was regarded by the graduates with respect 
and love. His sermons, according to the unanimous 
testimony of Yale students, have seldom been sur- 
passed in grandeur of moral conceptions or in intel- 
lectual power. He died July i, 1889. 



HORACE BUSHNELL. II5 



HORACE BUSHNELL. 

T_T GRACE BUSHNELL was born April 14, 1802, 
^ ''• in Litchfield, Conn., but at ten years of age 
went to the town of Washington, in the same county, 
where he w^as reared. He was graduated at Yale 
College in 1827, and was for a time literary editor 
of the New York "Journal of Commerce." In 1829 
he was appointed tutor in Yale College, where he 
remained two years, studying law and afterward 
theology. In 1833 he was settled in Hartford, Conn., 
as pastor of the North Congregational Church, where 
he remained until June, 1859, when he resigned. 
His discourses attracted great attention on account 
of their rare qualities of style and of their suspected 
heretical tendencies. On one occasion he was 
brought before the Association of Congregational 
Ministers to answer the charge of invalidating the 
doctrine of the Trinity. He was acquitted, and 
thereupon published a work in which he maintained 
that " human language is incapable of expressing, 
with any exactness, theologic science," and that 
many of the religious controversies have been dis- 
putes over mere words or phrases. Neither his tastes 
nor his mental traits inclined him to polemical theo- 
logy; not that he was not a logical reasoner, but his 
nature was a sensitive one, and his discourses all show 
strong poetic feeling, and a tendency to illustrate 
spiritual truth by natural images and analogies, 
rather than to define it in exact formulas by sharp 



Il6 HORACE BUSHNELL. 

mathematical lines. It will be difficult to find in the 
sermons of any modern divine so many passages of 
moral and intellectual beauty as Dr. Bushnell's dis- 
courses furnish. The current of his thought is strong 
but not dogmatic ; his piety was evidently the main- 
spring of his life, but it had no tinge of asceticism ; 
his imagination was his strongest intellectual faculty, 
but it was made subservient to the noblest uses. 

Dr. Bushnell was a man of unpretending and nat- 
ural manners, of great energy, and with a certain deci- 
sion that belongs to the leaders of men. His genius 
was exemplified in conversation as well as in his 
works, and he was among the most active and public- 
spirited of citizens. The beautiful park in Hartford 
was secured, in a great measure, by his efforts. 

We give a list of his Works: "Christian Nurture," 
(1847); "God in Christ "(1849); "Christ in Theo- 
logy "(1851); " Sermons for the New Life" (1858); 
" Nature and the Supernatural " (1858) ; " Christ and 
his Salvation" (1864); "Work and Play" (1864); 
" The Vicarious Sacrifice" (1866); " Moral Uses of 
Dark Things" (1868); "Woman Suffrage: The Re- 
form against Nature" (1869). In addition to these 
he printed essays and addresses upon a wide range 
of topics, principally in the " New Englander." He 
died in Hartford, February 17, 1876. 



MARK HOPKINS. II7 

MARK HOPKINS. 

/VAARK HOPKINS was born in Stockbridge, 
Mass., P'ebruary 4, 1802. He received his 
education at Williams College, where he was subse- 
quently a tutor. He studied medicine, and, after 
taking his degree, removed to New York city, and 
began practice. In 1830 he returned to Williams 
as professor of moral philosophy and rhetoric, and 
in 1836 was chosen president of the college, — a 
position which he held until 1872, when he became 
once more professor of moral philosophy. He died 
June 19, 1887. 

Among this author's published Works are " Lec- 
tures on the Evidences of Christianity" (1846); 
"Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses" (1847); 
" Lectures on Moral Science" (1862); ** Love as 
Law, and the Law of Love" (1863); "Baccalau- 
reate Sermons and Occasional Discourses" (1863); 
•• An Outline Study of Man " (1873) ; *' Strength and 
Beauty" (1874), — this last being reissued in 1884 
with the title of " Teachings and Counsels, — *' The 
Scriptural Idea of Man" (1883). 

Dr. Hopkins was a man of remarkable vigor, and 
combined high intellectual qualities with great practi- 
cal and administrative talents. That Williams College 
has maintained so high a rank among its contempo- 
raries, while its income has been so small compared 
with that of Harvard or Yale, was in a great measure 
owing to his wise management, and to the confidence 



Il8 LYDIA MARIA CHILD. 

felt in his character and in his high aims for the 
institution. 



LYDIA MARIA CHILD. 

T YDIA MARIA CHILD, daughter of David 
^ Francis, was born in Medford, Mass., February 
II, 1802, and died in Wayland, Mass., October 20, 
1880. Her first book, a story of the early settlement 
of the country, entitled " Hobomok," was published 
in 1824. The next year appeared *' The Rebels : A 
Tale of the Revolution." In 1826 she began the pub- 
lication of the "Juvenile Miscellany." In 1828 she 
was married to David Lee Child, an editor and author. 
Subsequently there appeared from her pen *' The 
First Settlers of New England " (1829) ; '* An Appeal 
for that class of Americans called Africans" (1833); 
''Ladies' Family Library," a series of biographies, 5 
vols. (1832-35) ; ** Philothea: A Romance of Greece 
in the days of Pericles" (1836); ''Letters from New 
York," 2 vols. (1843-45); " Fact and Fiction " (1846) ; 
"Flowers for Children," 3 vols. (1844-46); "The 
Power of Kindness" (185 1); " Isaac T. Hopper: A 
True Life" (1853); "The Progress of Religious 
Ideas," 3 vols. (1855) ; " Autumnal Leaves " (1856); 
" Looking Toward Sunset" (1864); "The Freed- 
man's Book" (1865); "Miria: A Romance of the 
Republic" (1867); "Aspirations of the World" 
(1878). 



LYDIA MARIA CHILD. II9 

In this list there is no mention of various juvenile 
works, and a book on domestic economy. In the ca- 
pacity to interest young people Mrs. Child was with- 
out a rival in her day. From the beginning of the 
antislavery crusade she was an earnest helper, and for 
the sake of the cause relinquished in great measure 
her lighter and more pleasing literary pursuits. 

Mrs. Child was a woman of strong and generous 
impulses, with a lively sense of beauty; especially 
fond of music, and of tracing fanciful analogies 
between its subtile suggestions and the sister arts; 
believing in absolute truth and justice, but somewhat 
too enthusiastic to preserve always the just balance 
of judgment. Her works apparently reflect her own 
nature, and bring the reader and author face to face. 
In the haste of co^mposition there are occasional slips, 
and among so many works there is not a uniform 
standard of merit ; still, there are few authors who 
have added so much to the pleasure and to the moral 
culture of a generation. It is to be hoped that a 
revised edition of her Works may be published, as 
many of them are out of print. A volume of her 
letters was printed in 1882. 

In the *' Fable for Critics " there is a playful passage 
upon this author, under the name of " Philothea," 
which is, on the whole, a warm tribute to her noble 
qualities. We can give only the concluding lines: 

" Yes, a great soul is hers ; one that dares to go in 
To the prison, the slave-hut, the alleys of sin, 
And to bring into each, or to find there, some line 
Of the never completely out-trampled divine. 



I20 RALPH WALDO EMERSON^ 

If her heart at high floods swamps her brain now and then, 
'T is but richer for that when the tide ebbs again ; 
As, after old Nile has subsided, his plain 
Overflows with a second broad deluge of grain. 
What a wealth would it bring to the narrow and sour 
'Could they be as a Child but for one little hour !" 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 

DALPH WALDO EMERSON was born in Bos- 
^^ ton, May 25, 1803. He was descended from a 
line of clergymen ; and if he inherited their bookish 
tendencies, he had also the stooping shoulders, flat 
chest, and other marks of studiotis men. By the early 
death of his father (181 1 ) his mother was left to bring 
up her family of five young children with very little 
means. But poverty — if such it was — was serenely, 
unconsciously borne, and in some way three of the 
sons were enabled to graduate at Harvard College. 
The severe and ennobling moral training bestowed 
by this heroic mother, assisted by a maiden aunt, 
produced the best results. Those who well knew the 
subject of this sketch reverenced him as one in whom 
the loftiest virtues were exemplified, with fewest of 
human failings. After graduation, in 182 1, he taught 
school for a few years ; and it was during this period 
— wandering in the woods of West Roxbury — that he 
wrote the poem " Good Bye, Proud World." He 
entered the ministry in 1826, and in 1829 was settled 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 121 

in Boston. On account of a change in his opinions 
he left the church and the ministry in 1832, when he 
went to Europe and remained a year. Upon his 
return he began his career as a lecturer, and soon 
after settled in Concord, Mass., which was his home 
for the remainder of his life. His first wife died soon 
after their marriage. His second wife, Miss Jackson, 
was the mother of his children, and survived him. 

Emerson was an acute observer both of Nature and 
man. In his study he passed the hours with Plato 
and the philosophers, with Svvedenborg and the mys- 
tics, or with Shakespeare and the poets; but his most 
fruitful meditations were in the woods and fields. 
Though he quoted much from favorite authors, it was 
from wild Nature that he drew his inspiration ; and its 
infinitely varied phases furnished him with never- 
failing analogies. His thoughts ran upon the powers 
of the soul, the play of the passions, the elements of 
society, and the growth and collective movement of 
ideas. He had an astonishing and apparently intui- 
tive perception of truth ; and if the word had not 
been vulgarized by base usage, he might be called 
a seer. His sentences have frequently the concise- 
ness, weight, and crystal clearness of proverbs. There 
can be gathered from his works specimens of apho- 
ristic sayings, spiritual and ennobHng in tendency, — 
so many, and of such quality, that it is doubtful if 
they could be paralleled by selections from any author 
since Lord Bacon. 

Side by side with this record in prose was the 
endeavor to work out in verse the results of the 



122 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 

philosopher's observation of human hfe and of the 
external world. Many of his poems are the expres- 
sion of thoughts found also in his essays. Some of 
his poems are of the highest beauty ; others appear 
to have been wrought without much art, and are 
unmelodious and obscure. " The Problem," " Each 
and All," and some others may be named as abso- 
lutely unsurpassed in our time. In grandeur of 
thought and power of expression, Emerson at his 
best is first of American poets. 

Emerson's prose works, having been written chiefly 
in the form of lectures, were not printed until they 
had been kept a long time and revised. Hence it 
came that his writings have no logical continuity. 
He has formulated no system ; he never argues nor 
expounds a proposition ; he appears to be writing 
of what lies before the open windows of his soul. 
This mode of treatment gives rise to ellipses; but 
the reader who has imagination will find stepping- 
stones between the sentences, and an order in the 
thoughts. 

Emerson's view of life is eminently cheerful ; he is 
the philosopher of courage and hope. He was loath 
to employ the common phrases in reference to things 
of the spiritual world, but he believed in the imma- 
nence of the Divine Spirit in the soul, and was at all 
times one of the most profoundly religious of men. 
In ethics he took always the highest tone, and found 
no language too severe for the frauds of trade or the 
deceptions of politics. He was interested in the 
Transcendental philosophy, — which, however, he 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 1 23 

preferred to call Idealism, — which was one of the 
main elements in the awakening of New England. 
He was an earnest advocate of freeing the slaves, 
and never hesitated to espouse any cause he thought 
just because it was unpopular. 

Emerson's religious and philosophical opinions can 
hardly be definitely stated in brief limits. Widely 
different views are held as to the tendencies of his 
writings; but they are read and enjoyed by many be- 
longing to all the schools of modern thought. In 
spirit they are opposed to materialism and pessimism, 
and are inspiring, like mountain air. 

Upon his return from his second visit to Europe, 
Mr. Emerson wrote " English Traits," a book of con- 
crete philosophy, full of subtile wit, and one of the 
best siimma7'ies of English men and institutions. It 
is, perhaps, the most interesting of his works. His 
courses of lectures were usually first delivered in 
Boston, and were eagerly heard by those who could 
appreciate wisdom at high proof Meanwhile, other 
lecturers gained more temporary renown by retailing 
his wisdom diluted. It required more than thirty 
years to make the public acquainted with the treas- 
ures in his works, and to silence the inane ridicule of 
the lower order of newspapers. But there were those 
who from the beginning felt that he was predestined 
to fame. In Concord, where he lived for half a 
century, he was adored by his townsmen, without 
distinction of sect or party. 

For some years before his death Mr. Emerson's 
faculties underwent a painful eclipse. He was still 



124 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 

master of himself in the sphere of ideas, but he forgot 
persons and names, and rehed upon the prompting of 
attendants. He died April 27, 1882. Concord has 
become a place of pilgrimage since Emerson, Haw- 
thorne, and Thoreau sleep in its rural cemetery. 

Emerson's Works are contained in eleven volumes: 
''Nature, with Addresses and Lectures;" "Essays, 
First and Second Series; " " Miscellanies; " '' Repre- 
sentative Men ; " " English Traits ; " *' Poems ; " " The 
Conduct of Life; " ''May Day, and Other Poems; " 
"Society and Solitude;" "Letters and Social 
Aims ; " " Lectures and Biographical Sketches," the 
last volume being posthumous. He had also a share 
in writing the Life of Margaret F'uUer. He was a 
contributor to the " Dial," a quarterly published 
1840-44, and for a time its editor. He was also 
warmly interested in the " Atlantic Monthly," and 
wrote for it from its beginning in 1857. His Life was 
written by J. Eliot Cabot. Oliver Wendell Holmes 
also wrote an interesting biography of him. Dr. Ed- 
ward Emerson, his son, has published an account of 
his father's private life, entitled " Emerson in Con- 
cord." His Works were published in London, with 
an introduction by John Morley, in which the place 
of Emerson in literature is certainly not overstated, 
and which few of Emerson's friends or disciples can 
read with equanimity. In spirit, it is much like the 
inadequate estimate of Matthew Arnold. 



ORESTES AUGUSTUS BROWNSON. 12$ 



ORESTES AUGUSTUS BROWNSON. 

PjRESTES AUGUSTUS BROWNSON was born 
^ in Stockbridge, Vt., September i6, 1 803, and 
died April 17, 1876. He was early inclined to reli- 
gious and philosophical discussion, and sought truth 
through every conceivable avenue of approach. Be- 
ginning with the creed of New England Congrega- 
tionalism, he joined the Presbyterian Church at the 
age of nineteen, while attending an academy. After 
some struggles he became, in 1825, a Universalist 
minister, preaching and writing in his usual strong 
and aggressive style. He next gave his sympathies 
to the social reforms proposed by Robert Owen; 
but finding progress slow in that direction, he was at- 
tracted by the influence of Dr. Channing, and became 
the pastor of a Unitarian society. In this period he 
enlarged his acquaintance with languages, literature, 
and philosophy. This phase of thought lasted until 
1836, when he organized a new society in Boston for 
"Christian union and progress." In 1838 he estab- 
lished the Boston "Quarterly Review," which he 
edited for five years. In 1840 he published " Charles 
Elwood ; Or, the Infidel Converted," a strongly "med- 
icated " novel, as the Autocrat's friend would have 
termed it. Having gone the round of speculative 
ideas in theology, he began to experience a mental 
reaction, and in 1844 joined the Roman Catholic 
Church. In the same year he began the publica- 
tion of " Brownson's Quarterly Review," which was 



126 ROBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD. 

continued until 1864, and revived in 1873-75. The 
following is a list of his later Works, though perhaps 
not complete: "The Spirit Rapper" (1854); "The 
Convert " (1857) ; " The American Republic, its Con- 
stitution, Tendencies, and Destiny" (1865); "Liber- 
alism and the Church" (1869). He removed from 
Boston about the year 1854, and thereafter resided 
in or near New York. 

Dr. Brownson was an exceedingly able and acute 
reasoner, as well as a clear and forcible writer. As 
might be expected, his religious convictions permeate 
nearly every sentence. With most authors there are 
certain fields on which there is a truce to controversy ; 
but Dr. Brownson, with more logic, perhaps, but with 
less amenity, treated every subject, from metaphysics 
to an album sonnet, in its relations to the Church. 



ROBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD. 

nOBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD was born in 
Newcastle, Del., in the year 1803. He received 
his classical and medical education in Philadelphia, 
and for many years resided in that city. He was 
the author of several novels of more than ordinary 
merit, among which are "Calavar: A Tale of the 
Conquest of Mexico ; " " The Infidel ; Or, the Fall of 
Mexico ; " " Nick of the Woods ; Or, the Jibbenaino- 
say," a story of life in Kentucky in early times ; " The 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 12/ 

Adventures of Robin Day." He wrote three trage- 
dies, one of which, *' The Gladiator," was made popu- 
lar by the acting of Mr. Forrest. " Calavar" contains 
many beautiful descriptive passages, and is believed 
to present a faithful picture of the ancient city as it 
was before the conquest. " Nick of the Woods " is full 
of startling border adventures, and though it has suf- 
fered in consequence of the horde of later imitations, 
it shows originality and power in the author. 

Dr. Bird left the field of literature at an early age, 
retired to his native place, and died there in January, 
1854. 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 

MATHANIEL HAWTHORNE was born July 4, 
1804, at Salem, Mass., where his family, re- 
markable for robust physical and mental traits, had 
been settled from the beginning of the colony. His 
father, a shipmaster, died in Surinam when the boy 
was four years of age. His mother was a woman of 
capacity, and encouraged his taste for reading. His 
favorite authors were Thomson, Spenser, Bunyan, 
Milton, Shakespeare, and Froissart. At the age of 
fourteen he spent a year in Maine with an uncle, in 
a township of wild land, where he lived the free life 
of a bird, and also acquired the habits of solitude 
which grew upon him in after years. At an early age 
and against his will he was sent to Bowdoin College, in 



128 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 

Maine. Several of his classmates and friends had an 
important influence upon his after life. Among them, 
Longfellow was the first to recognize his genius in a 
review; Lieutenant Bridge, U. S. N. guarantied the 
cost of his hrst successful book ; and Franklin Pierce, 
afterward President, gave him the lucrative place of 
consul to Liverpool. 

After graduation Hawthorne wrote a novel called- 
*' Fanshawe," which was of little value. He also 
wrote a number of short stories and sketches, almost 
all founded upon some weird fantasy; and these 
were, a few years later, collected under the title of 
*' Twice Told Tales." They could have been con- 
ceived only by a man of genius, and the exquisite 
simplicity of the style shows the hand of a master. 
He continued writing with meagre pecuniary returns, 
and later was glad to accept a small position in the 
Boston custom-house. After two years he lost the 
place by the return of the Whigs to power. He 
joined the Brook Farm community in West Roxbury, 
but accomplished little literary work there. In 1842 
he married Miss Peabody of Salem, an accomplished 
woman who had been attracted by his writings, and 
they went to live in Concord, Mass., where he wrote 
*' Mosses from an Old Manse." This work was warmly 
received by a limited circle of friends ; but the time 
for his general popularit5^ had not come. He was 
next surveyor in the Salem custom-house for three 
years, and after leaving that place wrote " The Scarlet 
Letter," perhaps the most original and powerful of his 
romances, the work that established his fame. At 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 1 29 

Lenox, Mass., he wrote " The House of Seven 
Gabies," a romance of Salem in the olden time. 
Removing to West Newton, Mass., he wrote *' The 
Blithedale Romance," founded upon his experiences 
at Brook Farm. He returned to Concord, where he 
bought a house and established his family. About 
this time he wrote " A Wonder Book," containing 
** Tanglewood Tales," which are modernized classic 
fables, and *' Grandfather's Chair," a series of sketches 
of events in early colonial history. In 1852 he wrote 
the life of his friend Franklin Pierce, who was then can- 
didate for President. Pierce would have appointed 
him a foreign minister, but being too poor to bear 
the expense of such an honor, Hawthorne accepted a 
place as consul, as has been mentioned. He resigned 
in 1857 and went to Italy, where he remained rather 
more than a year; after which he returned to Eng- 
land, and there wrote his last and most generally 
admired romance, " The Marble Faun." He returned 
to the United States in June, i860, less than a year 
before the outbreak of the Civil War. He published 
two volumes of selections from his English note- 
books, entitled '' Our Old Home." He began ** The 
Dolliver Romance," but did not live to complete it. 
The probable issues of the Civil War distressed him 
beyond measure. His friend and publisher, Mr. 
Ticknor, induced him to take a trip to New Hamp- 
shire, to revive his drooping spirits. They stopped 
at a hotel for the night (May 19, 1864), and without 
any premonition Hawthorne was found dead in his 
bed in the morning. 

9 



I30 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 

Hawthorne's " Note Books," which have been pub- 
hshed, show that all his life he recorded the thoughts 
that came to him in his solitary hours; and these 
formed the bases of his stories and romances. Be- 
sides " The Dolliver Romance," he left another work 
unfinished, " Septimius Felton ; " both of these were 
attempts to reach the secret of immortahty. His son 
Julian has published his " Life and Letters," and his 
son-in-law, George P. Lathrop, has written " A Study 
of Hawthorne." 

Hawthorne's mind brooded over the theological 
and other problems of Puritan life, and his works are 
for the most part tinged with melancholy. His crea- 
tive imagination gives him an assured place among the 
great writers of fiction. His romances are removed as 
far as is possible from novels, and there is no propriety 
in comparing him with such writers as Thackeray or 
Dickens; in fact, there is no man of the English race 
who can be counted his peer in the field he occupied.^ 
His characters are not assemblages of traits, built up 
from the results of nice observation, but seem to have 
been called into being by hlsjiat; and while they are 
in a sense shadowy and remote, they are real men and 
women, with human hearts and passions. His ro- 
mances are in an ideal world, without limitation of 
time, and are likely to remain eternally fresh, like the 
masterpieces of the Greek dramatists. His style, for 

1 Mr. Lowell said to the writer of this work, that, while he 
would not think of setting up the romancer against the immortal 
dramatist, he thought the world might sooner see another Shake- 
speare than another Hawthorne. 



FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE. 131 

his high purpose, is masterly, — without effort, with- 
out false lustre, simple and direct. Hence quotation 
is difficult, unless by reproducing an entire scene. 
As a writer, he is conspicuous among the few in our 
century who are acknowledged as masters of the 
English tongue ; as a creator, he is one of the very 
small number which the world has produced. 



FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE. 

CREDERIC HENRY HEDGE was born in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., December 12, 1805. His father 
was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in Harvard 
College. In his thirteenth year the son was sent to 
Germany in company with Bancroft, the future histo- 
rian, and pursued his studies for five years in Hanover 
and Saxony, becoming a master of the German lan- 
guage, and afterward of its literature. He returned 
to the United States in 1823, entered an advanced 
class in Harvard College, and graduated in 1825. 
After the usual course in the theological school, he 
was settled as pastor of a church in West Cambridge 
(now Arlington) in 1828. He was subsequently 
settled in Providence, R. I. (1850); in Bangor, Me. 
(1855), and in Brooklinc, Mass. (1856). He was 
appointed Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Har- 
vard, 1857, and in the same year became editor of 
the '* Christian Examiner." In 1872 he was ap- 



132 FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE. 

pointed Professor of the German Language and 
Literature, a post which he held until 1881. 

Dr. Hedge's principal work is " The Prose Writers 
of Germany, from Luther to Chamisso," — a careful 
selection of specimens, with a short biography of each 
author. He made versions of the minor poems of 
Schiller and other German poets. In collaboration 
with Rev. F. D. Huntington he made a collection of 
hymns, and a liturgy for the Unitarian Church. His 
contributions to the Reviews were masterly, and always 
won the attention of thoughtful men. Among these 
essays maybe mentioned one upon Coleridge, in 1833 '■> 
** Conservatism and Reform," in 1840 ; '' Saint Augus- 
tine," in 1856; "Leibnitz," in 1858; "University 
Reform," in 1866. This last was largely influential in 
the development of Harvard from a college into a 
university. He published " Reason in Religion " in 
1865, ^^^ "The Primeval World of Hebrew Tradi- 
tion" in 1870. "The Ways of the Spirit" and 
" Hours with the German classics " are two of Dr. 
Hedge's notable books, the first being regarded by 
many of his friends as his best work. He was a diligent 
student, and was always master of his subject. His 
style was weighty and impressive, and in the pulpit he 
was in the forefront of orators. He had a prominent 
part in the great movement in the early part of the 
century which raised Harvard College and Boston 
into the intellectual freedom and light of modern 
times. Some of the most brilliant of Emerson's 
reminiscences relate to this part of our literary 
history. 



WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. 1 33 

Dr. Hedge retained his faculties and his wonderful 
power of speech until a great age. In 1883, being in 
his seventy-eighth year, he delivered a discourse upon 
Luther which occupied an hour and a half, and which 
held a large audience in rapt attention. His printed 
discourses, essays, and reviews would form a large 
collection. He died in Cambridge, August 22, 1890. 



WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. 

V\/ILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS was born in 
Charleston, S. C, April 17, 1806. He re- 
ceived but a limited education in one of the grammar 
schools of the city, and was for some time a clerk in 
a drug house ; but at the age of eighteen he be- 
gan the study of law. He was married at twenty, 
and at twenty-two was admitted to the bar. After 
practising a year, he purchased an interest in a news- 
paper; but this proved a losing venture, as the doc- 
trine of "nullification" was in the ascendant, and 
Simms was then an advocate for the maintenance of 
the Federal Union. He resolved to retrieve his for- 
tunes by literary labors, and from that time forward 
he published, with almost every year, a poem, a 
novel, a history, or a biography. No writer of mod- 
ern times excelled him in industry; but the rapidity 
with which his works were produced had its usual 
effect. None of them show the matured and sym- 



134 WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. 

metrical design which marks a work of art, still less 
tlie hand of a master in their execution. There are 
passages of description in many of his novels that 
are vivid and picturesque, but the style is often re- 
dundant, and scarcely ever free from provincialisms. 
The characters are like the lay figures of the studio, 
useful in exigencies and effective in tableaux, but 
devoid of interest in themselves. The best of his 
novels are of the historical kind, in which Southern 
life in early times is painted, such as " The Yemassee " 
and " Guy Rivers." The most of them are irredeem- 
ably dull, at least for readers who value their time, 
and they must surely sink into neglect. His style has 
a certain level quality, which neither kindles enthu- 
siasm nor falls below a respectable mediocrity. 

Among the more solid works of Mr. Simms are the 
History of South Carolina, and the Lives of Generals 
Francis Marion and Nathanael Greene, Captain John 
Smith, founder of the Virginia colony, and the Chev- 
alier Bayard. Most of his poems, some fourteen in 
number, are out of print. The best of them is said 
to be ** Atalantis," published in New York in 1833. 
He was also an indefatigable writer for periodicals, 
having been editor of several Southern Reviews, and 
a contributor to a great number of Northern maga- 
zines. The student will find in Appleton's Cyclo- 
paedia, vol. XV., p. 58, a list of nearly sixty volumes 
of his Works. 

Mr. Simms received a considerable fortune by his 
second marriage, and his Works undoubtedly yielded 
him a handsome income. He was a man of frank 



HENRY WADSWORTII LONGFELLOW. 1 35 

and hearty manners and amiable character. He died 
in Savannah, June 11, 1870. 



HENRY WADSVVORTH LONGFELLOW. 

LJENRY WADS WORTH LONGFELLOW was 

born in Portland, Me., February 27, 1807. He 
was graduated in 1825 at Bowdoin College, in the 
same class with Hawthorne. The next year he was 
appointed Professor of Modern Languages at Bow- 
doin, and was allowed the customary leave of absence, 
that he might make the tour of Europe. On his re- 
turn he entered upon the duties of his chair. While 
professor at Bowdoin he translated the " Coplas de 
Manrique," and was a contributor to the " North 
American Review." His first original work, entitled 
'' Outre Mer," containing his notes of travel, pub- 
lished in 1835, showed refinement of style and many 
delicate traits of observation, which were immedi- 
ately recognized by critical readers. In 1835 he was 
appointed to a professorship of Belles Lettres at Har- 
vard College, as a successor to Mr. George Ticknor, 
— upon which he made a second visit to Europe, 
and was absent two years. On his return he began his 
college duties, and held the place until 1854. In 1839 
appeared his romance " Hyperion," a book that is 
glowing with poetic thought and expression. In the 
same year was published " Voices of the Night," a 



136 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 

collection that embraces many of his most widely 
known poems. From that time he was universally 
acknowledged to be, if not the first, the most popular 
living poet. 

The Works of Longfellow are numerous, and from 
the list that follows are omitted his early treatises 
for students, as well as his articles in magazines and 
reviews: '' Ballads and Other Poems," 1841 ; '* Poems 
on Slavery," 1842; "The Spanish Student," 1843; 
" The Waif: A collection of Poems, with Proem," 
1845; "The Poets and Poetry of Europe," 1845; 
''The Belfry of Bruges," etc., 1846; "TheEstray: A 
collection of Poems," 1847; "Evangeline," 1847; 
"Kavanagh: A Tale," 1849; "The Seaside and the 
Fireside," 1850; " The Golden Legend," 185 1 ; "The 
Song of Hiawatha," 1855: "The Courtship of Miles 
Standish," 1858; "Tales of a Wayside Inn," 1863; 
"Flower de Luce," 1867; "The New England Trag- 
edies," 1868; Dante's "Divine Comedy: A Transla- 
tion," 1867; "The Divine Tragedy," 1871 ; " Christus: 
A Mystery" (containing three poems previously 
published), 1872; "Three Books of Song," 1872; 
"Aftermath," 1874; "The Masque of Pandora," 1875 ; 
"Poems of Places" (a collection in 31 vols.), 1876- 
1879; "Keramos," 1878; "Ultima Thule," 1880; 
"In the Harbor" (posthumous), 1882; "Michael 
Angelo" (posthumous), 1883. 

It is remarkable to observe that every volume has 
made a positive addition to our stock of ideal por- 
traits and poetical imagery. We might conceive of a 
Longfellow Gallery, better known and more fondly 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 137 

cherished than the picture galleries of kings. There, 
in the place of honor, hangs Evangeline, sweetest of 
heroines, turning her sad face away from the desolate 
Grand Pre. Opposite is the Puritan damsel Priscilla, 
with her bashful, clerical lover, and the fiery little 
captain. In the next panel is the half-frozen sound 
over which skims the bold Norseman. There, under 
the chestnut-tree, stands the swart blacksmith, all the 
love of a father brimming in his eyes. There leans 
the vast glacier, gleaming in fatal beauty, along whose 
verge toils upward the youth with Excelsior on his 
banner. There the airy Preciosa is dancing away the 
scruples of the archbishop. Here is pictured the 
Belfry of Bruges, and the groups of people listening 
to the heavenly chime of its bells. There, shivering 
in a wintry sea, is the " Hesperus," a helpless wreck, 
driving upon Norman's Woe. Yonder stands Albert 
Diirer, in a street of his beloved, quaint old Nurem- 
berg. There, on the sculptured stairway, is the Clock, 
ticking its eternal Forever! never! Never ! forever ! 
There saunters the dreamy-eyed Sicilian, his mus- 
taches spread like a swallow's wings. Behold the 
busy throngs about that huge hulk, and see the proud 
master waving his hand as the signal for the launch ! 
By that empty cradle sits the mother thinking of the 
** dead lamb " of her flock. Yonder looms up Stras- 
burg spire, while spirits of the air circle round its 
pinnacles, and the miracle-play goes on below. That 
is Paul Revere, galloping, in the gray of the morning, 
along the road to Concord. In that green spot, with 
the limitless prairie beyond, stands Hiawatha, look- 



138 HENRY WADSWORTII LONGFELLOW. 

ing gloomily westward, whither his path leads him. 
Lastly, we see a broad frame, on which we read in 
golden letters the legend, " The Divine Tragedy." 

Longfellow was married to Miss Potter, of Port- 
land, who died while they were abroad, in 1835. 
He was married in 1843, for the second time, to Miss 
Appleton, who was the mother of his children. This 
beautiful and noble woman lost her life by fire in 
1 861, and her death clouded all the poet's future. 
Excepting this tragedy his life was without any 
marked incident. It was simply filled with constant 
and fruitful labor, with kindly thought and benevo- 
lent action, and attended by love and honor. 

Longfellow lived in the Cragie House on Brattle 
Street, Cambridge, — a fine colonial mansion, occu- 
pied by Washington while in command of the patriot 
army around Boston. He lived generously, but with- 
out ostentation; and his house was pre-eminent 
among the notable dwellings of the seaboard. His 
literary and personal friendships were strong; he was 
without vanity or jealousy; and his equable temper, 
gracious manners, and musical speech made him one 
of the most delightful men of his generation. Among 
his firmest friends may be mentioned Agassiz, Charles 
Sumner, Hawthorne, President Felton, Lowell, Holmes, 
Norton, Luigi Monti, and Thomas W. Parsons. ** The 
Wayside Inn" contains portraits of some of these. 

Any discussion of Longfellow's poetry would be 
out of the question in a work like this. But while 
critics discuss and discriminate, readers all over the 
world rejoice in the beauty, the inspiration, the kind- 



HENRY WADSWORTII LONGFELLOW. 1 39 

ness, and the consolation contained in his musical 
lines. Probably no poet of our century has so many 
friends. 

Longfellow died March 24, 1882. A sketch of 
his life, which had been made with his sanction by 
the author of this work, appeared shortly after his 
death. His Life and Letters, in three volumes, were 
given to the world by his brother, the Rev. Samuel 
Longfellow. 

Poetry, like music, has some strains suited to every 
mood of mind, and awakens a sense of beauty in the 
hearts of the uncultured as well as in the souls of 
the great and wise; and therefore each possessor 
of the divine gift attracts his separate followers, and 
addresses different faculties. But Longfellow is well- 
nigh universal in his sympathies, and so is beloved of 
all men. If it is urged that one poet is more imagina- 
tive, another more witty or more glowing, it can still 
be said that his images fill the horizon of widely dif- 
ferent minds, and that his verse has a grace, melody, 
and variety which leave no room for criticism. Every 
emotion which stirs us finds a response in some of his 
poems ; and we see that his art has seized upon the 
picturesque in Nature to form an appropriate setting 
to each thought. The poetry of Longfellow furnishes 
a most signal proof of the benefits conferred by poets 
upon mankind. It is a gospel of good-will set to 
music. It has carried "sweetness and light" to thou- 
sands of homes. It is blended with our holiest affec- 
tions and our immortal hopes. 



140 NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. 

NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. 

IVFATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS was born in 
Portland, Me., January 20, 1807. He was grad- 
uated at Yale College in 1827. Some of his most 
popular poems, including his " Scripture Sketches," 
were written while he was in college. He established 
the ''American Monthly Magazine" in 1828, which, 
after an existence of two or three years, was merged in 
the New York " Mirror." A small volume of his " Fu- 
gitive Poetry " was published in Boston in 1829. He 
went to Europe in 1831, and while on his tour wrote 
a series of letters for the '' Mirror," entitled *' Pencil- 
lings by the Way." His journey ended in England 
in 1835, where the " Pencillings " were published in a 
collected form, in three volumes, and where the au- 
thor was married. His next work, ** Inklings of Ad- 
venture," appeared in 1836, and was republished in 
the United States. The following year Mr. Willis re- 
turned home, and settled at Glenmary, near Owego, 
N. Y After two years he revisited England, and 
in 1840 published " Letters from Under a Bridge," 
and shortly after *' Loiterings of Travel;" also a 
drama, entitled " Two Ways of Dying for a Hus- 
band." In 1845 he published another collection of 
sketches, entitled '^ Dashes at Life with a Free 
Pencil." About a year later the '* Home Journal " 
was established by our author, in connection with 
Mr. George P. Morris, the song-writer. He pub- 
lished in 1848 a collection entitled ** Poems of Early 



NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. I4I 

and After Years." The remaining works of Mr. 
Willis are mostly reprinted from the columns of the 
** Journal." They are " Rural Letters " (1849) ; " Peo- 
ple I Have Met" (1850); ''Life Here and There " 
(1850); " Hurry-Graphs " (185 i) ; " Memoranda of a 
Life of Jenny Lind " (1851); "Fun Jottings" (1853); 
"A Health Trip to the Tropics" (1853); '* A Sum- 
mer Cruise in the Mediterranean " (1853) ; " Famous 
Persons and Places " (1854) ; '' Out Doors at Idlewild " 
(1854); ''The Rag Bag" (1855); "Paul P'ane," a 
novel (1856); "The Convalescent " (i860). 

The health of Mr. Willis had been delicate for many 
years, as may be inferred from some of the titles of 
his works, but the disease had been resisted and kept 
in check by country life and active habits. He died in 
January, 1867. 

Mr. Willis had great natural gifts. His perceptions 
were quick; his instinctive sense of color and of har- 
mony pervades both prose and verse ; his spirits were 
so lively that he could never be dull, whatever other 
offence he might commit. His landscapes and rural 
scenes are so exquisitely painted that we are sure his 
love of country life was his strongest feeling. But he 
could never have been a studious recluse ; there must 
have been always a telegraph or carrier pigeon, or let- 
ter, or what not, — something that brought the news 
and gossip of the great world, and told the interesting 
hermit what "society" thought of his latest letter or 
poem. This same " society " is answerable for the 
author's most serious faults. His early stories and 
sketches abound in stanhopes, blood horses, cham- 



142 NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. 

pagne, star-eyed poets, and glorious damsels. That 
style of writing, flippant and personal, would seem to 
have originated with Bulwer's " Pelham," if that self- 
satisfied Adonis had ever taken the trouble to write 
anything. To play the double role of hard-working 
author and squire of dames, — to correct proof in the 
morning when one is meditating the bons mots for the 
evening, is too much of a burden ; and we rather 
wonder, in view of the life he must have led, that 
Willis retained, as he did, his early freshness of feel- 
ing, and wrote so much that was admirable. 

*' The Fable for Critics," which we have quoted 
before, contains a witty sketch of our author, in which 
there are a few lines, referring to the " Letters from 
Under a Bridge," that show a warm appreciation : 

" No volume I know to read under a tree 
More truly delicious than his ' A TAbri,' 
With the shadows of leaves flowing over your book, 
Like ripple-shades netting the bed of a brook ; 
With June coming softly your shoulder to look over, 
Breezes waiting to turn every leaf of your book over, 
And Nature to criticise still as you read, — 
That page that bears that is a rare one indeed." 

Mr. Willis had a kindly and generous nature, full 
of sympathy, especially to young writers. He was 
doubtless annoyed by the receipt of letters from all 
sorts of persons, as successful authors always are ; 
but, unlike some of his brethren, he always had a 
kind, sensible, and judicious answer to give. There 
are many who remember this trait with gratitude. 



JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 1 43 



JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER was born in 
^ Haverhill, Mass., December 17, 1807. His pa- 
rents were members of the Society of Friends, in 
moderate circumstances, kindly and devout, living 
on a farm remote from the village. His schooling 
was scanty, but his poetic faculty was awakened in 
early youth by hearing a pedler sing Scotch songs, 
and by a gift of the poems of Burns from his school- 
master. After difficulty and delay, he attended in his 
20th and 21st years two terms at the Haverhill Acad- 
emy. He wrote for many newspapers in this his 
forming period, and by reading and practice acquired 
knowledge and command of English. He was editor 
of a weekly literary paper in Hartford, Conn., for 
about a year and a half, — 1830-32. Not long after 
his return home his father died, and the care of the 
family devolved upon him. While engaged in hard 
labor upon the farm he continued to write, and 
gained in power and reputation. From 1833 onward 
he was devoted to the antislavery cause. For more 
than thirty years he wrote constantly in all the peri- 
odicals of the day, sometimes in verse and oftener in 
prose, meanwhile attending meetings and conven- 
tions, — and in all this displayed an activity that was 
probably without parallel in that long struggle. He 
also found time for purely literary work, of which we 
have portions in his volumes of prose, and a treasure 
in his collections of verse. His chief contributions 



144 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 

were given to the " New England Review," Hartford, 
*' New England Magazine," Boston, the " Democratic 
Review," the ** National Era," and the " Atlantic 
Monthly." They were also scattered in a great num- 
ber of newspapers, annuals, etc., and many, probably, 
are irretrievably lost. He shared the obloquy and 
violence which all the early Abolitionists experienced. 
He was pelted with stones at Concord, N. H., and 
having gone to Philadelphia to edit the Pennsylvania 
" Freeman," his office was burned by a mob. His re- 
lations with Garrison were cordial, but he preferred 
to act with the party that made slavery a political 
question, and which finally triumphed in the election 
of Abraham Lincoln. 

The list of Whittier's published Works is long, and 
we omit some of the early ones which the poet did 
not care to preserve: " Antislavery Poems" (1838); 
"Lays of My Home" (1843); ''Margaret Smith's 
Journal" (1849); "Complete Poems, with Illustra- 
tions "(Mussey; 18^9); " Voices of Freedom " (1849); 
"Songs of Labor" (1850); "Old Portraits, etc." 
(1850); "The Chapel of the Hermits" (1853); 
"Literary Recreations" (1854); "The Panorama" 
(1856); Complete Edition (Ticknor; 1857); "Home 
Ballads" (i860); "In War Time" (1863); "Snow 
Bound " (1866) ; " The Tent on the Beach " (1867) ; 
"Among the Hills" (1868); "Miriam" (1870); 
"The Pennsylvania Pilgrim" (1872); "Mabel Mar- 
tin " (1874) ; " Hazel Blossoms " (1875) ; " Songs of 
Three Centuries" (a collection of Standard Poems, 
1875); "The Vision of Echard " (1878); "The 



JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 145 

King's Missive" (1881); "The Bay of Seven Isl- 
ands " (1883) ; ''Saint Gregory's Guest " (1888). A 
little volume o( verse was privately printed in 1 890. 
This now takes its place among his Works, and in- 
cludes, with other additions, the author's tribute to 
Holmes on his eighty-third birthday. 

If there has been in our century a man whom all 
will agree was born a poet, it is Whittier. He was 
less indebted to scholastic training, to family, to so- 
ciety, or to literary companionship than any of his 
brethren. Everything was in the man, nothing in 
the outfit. He made classic the scenery of his native 
Essex, of the neighboring coast of Maine, and the 
shining course of the Merrimac from the lakes and 
mountains to the sea. The early legends of the 
colony and of the great northern forest, of Indian 
and Canadian raids, of Puritan justice as meted out 
to Quakers and witches, — all that is romantic and 
memorable in New England's past found in Whittier 
a predestined bard. Although born in a remote 
corner, he was in many respects the most national of 
our poets. His landscapes, trees, and flowers are 
depicted with almost unequalled fidelity, and in what 
profusion! His sympathies go out to all men. His 
was the earliest of the siiTging " voices of freedom ; " 
and after the victory he celebrated the " triumph " in 
at strain of humble gratitude to God, like Simeon with 
his " Nunc dimittis." 

Whittier's instinct led him towards poetry and to 
poetic prose, but conscience made him an abolition- 
ist and a reformer. His soul was cut in twain, but 



146 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 

conscience for the most part triumphed ; and how- 
ever numerous and important are his poems and 
purely hterary productions, it is probably true that a 
far greater amount of work was done by him in 
behalf of the antislavery cause and other reforms. 
This could not have been otherwise with a man of 
his principles and character; but if it had been pos- 
sible for him to lead more the life of a scholar, and 
to bestow adequate time upon perfecting his poems, 
it would have made a change in the relative rank 
of American poets. The defects in his verse, such 
as imperfect rhymes and careless structure of lines 
and sentences, would have been remedied by patient 
care, such as other eminent poets never failed to 
bestow. It is true that he was " prone to repeat his 
own lyrics," but he did this as an apostle or antislavery 
preacher rather than as a poet. If many of his politi- 
cal poems are rhymed eloquence, the same is true of 
Pope, of Dryden, and of many others. But there is a 
large number of pieces, which, after every deduction 
made, are genuine poetry, ranking with the highest 
products of the century. 

Perhaps the highest expression of his genius was 
in his religious poems, such as "The Eternal Good- 
ness ; " they show an elevation of soul and an inten- 
sity of feeling which have become rare even among 
the most devout. 

A biographical sketch of Whittier was, by his per- 
mission and assistance, written in 1882 by the author 
of this volume. He died September 7, 1892, and was 
buried in the family lot in the Friends' burying- 



RICHARD HILDRETH. 1 47 

ground in Amesbury. By his will he left his manu- 
scripts and letters to S. T. Pickard, of Portland, 
Maine, who married his niece, and that gentleman is 
engaged in writing an elaborate biography. 



RICHARD HILDRETH. 

piCHARD HILDRETH was born in Deerfield, 
*^ Mass., June 28, 1807. He was graduated at 
Harvard College in 1826, and, after reading law in 
Newburyport, removed to Boston and began prac- 
tice. In 1832 he became the editor of the Boston 
'•Atlas." Being in delicate health, he went to the 
South in 1834, where he sojourned for a year and 
a half on a plantation. This experience suggested 
to him the idea of writing a novel founded on the 
vicissitudes in the life of a slave. *' Archy Moore," 
which appeared on his return, was the first anti- 
slavery novel. It was republished in England, and 
favorably received. But Mr. Hildreth's mind was 
not suited to writing fiction, nor did he care for any 
rhetorical arts. The titles of his works show what 
were his favorite studies. He translated " Bentham's 
Theory of Legislation" from the French of Dumont. 
He wrote a *' History of Banks," " Despotism in Am- 
erica," which was a discussion of the subject of 
slavery; also a " Theory of Morals," and a '* Theory 
of Politics." These last works were written while he 



148 RICHARD HILDRETH. 

was a resident in Demerara. His most important 
work is his " History of the United States," in six 
vohimes, pubHshed between 1849 ^^^d 1852, and 
bringing the narrative down to 1820. This is a 
work evincing great industry, independent judg- 
ment, and unswerving adherence to facts as he saw 
them. The style is clear and pure, and the arrange- 
ment of details perspicuous. There is not a passage 
of "fine writing" or declamation in it. The impres- 
sion left upon the mind of the reader is not favorable 
to Jefferson and his followers, since the author's hero 
(if sober history be allowed to have a hero) is Hamilton. 
Whether the view of Bancroft or that of Hildreth be 
the true one, no critic can now with certainty affirm. 
Every history of this country so far has been based 
upon more or less partial statements, and upon such 
letters as have been permitted to see the light. Each 
historian has made such selections as would produce 
effective pictures, and place the actors in what he 
considered their true relative positions. Many letters 
may exist which some future explorer may bring to 
light, and by their aid give a new color to characters 
and events. This generation is not ready to accept 
as true the traits of any portrait of the fathers based 
either on prejudice or half-knowledge, nor to believe 
that our governmental fabric had its rise among such 
selfish intrigues, struggles, and aspersion of motives 
as are prevalent to-day. 

Mr. Hildreth published a work entitled ** Japan 
as it Was and Is," a compilation of value. He was 
connected at one time with the New York ** Tribune," 



EDMUND QUINCY. I49 

and was an industrious writer for other periodicals. 
He was appointed consul to Trieste in 1861. His 
frame was slender, and his health was always delicate. 
He died in Florence, July, 1865. 



EDMUND QUINCY. 

CDMUND QUINCY was born in Boston, Febru- 
ary I, 1808, and was graduated at Harvard 
College in 1827. He studied law, but never prac- 
tised the profession, having been, as he once jocosely 
styled himself, '* a reformed lawyer." He wrote a 
great number of letters and other articles for periodi- 
cals, characterized by a peculiar and often pungent 
wit. He published, in 1854, a novel entitled "Wens- 
ley: A Story without a 'Moral." It has a racy New 
England flavor, and was much enjoyed by those fa- 
miliar with the manners of fifty years ago. In 1867 
he published a Life of his father, Josiah Quincy, a 
work of great interest as a biography and as a con- 
tribution to our national history, exhibiting clearly, 
as it did, the literary culture, taste, and judgment of 
the author. 

Mr. Quincy lived at Dedham, in one of those 
spacious old houses which few men in our century 
know how to build, and fewer still how to enjoy. 
He was prominent among the early Abolitionists, 
and cheerfully bore his part of the obloquy heaped 



150 GEORGE STILLMAN HILLARD. 

upon them by all the *' best people " of Boston. For 
many years he was a regular correspondent of the 
New York " Antislavery Standard." He was one of 
the original contributors to the " Atlantic Monthly," 
and wrote many of its (early) epigrammatic book no- 
tices. At the " Atlantic " dinners he was remarkable 
for his wit and felicity in conversation, as well as for 
his distinguished manners; for he was among the 
few courtly men with whom dignity never became 
importance, and whose courtesy was never mistaken 
for condescension. He died May 17, 1877. 



GEORGE STUXMAN HILLARD. 

pEORGE STILLMAN HILLARD was born in 
^^ Machias, Me., September 22, 1808. He was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1828, after which he 
studied law, and settled in Boston, where he resided 
until his death, which occurred January 21, 1879. He 
paid a divided homage to law and' literature, and was 
distinguished at the bar as well as among writers. 
He delivered several discourses on public occasions, 
in which he exhibited brilliant qualities of style, and 
the results of reading and culture. He visited Europe 
in 1847, ^^^^ o^ ^^'^^ return delivered a course of lec- 
tures before the Lowell Institute. His notes of travel, 
under the title of '* Six Months in Italy," relate mostly 
to ancient and mediaeval art, and have what seems 



EDWARDS A. PARK. 151 

to be a permanent value. He published a selection 
from the Works of Walter Savage Landor, and an" 
edition of Spenser in five volumes. He wrote many 
valuable articles for the *' Christian Examiner " and 
the " North American Review," and was the author 
of a widely-known series of school readers. 

An address which he delivered in 1846, is notice- 
able as one of the earliest attempts to show the in- 
fluences of physical geography upon the history of 
mankind. 



EDWARDS A. PARK. 

CDWARDS A. PARK was born in Providence, 
^ R. I., December 29, 1808. He was graduated 
at Brown University in 1826, received his theological 
education at Andover, Mass., and was settled in 1831 
as pastor of a church in Braintree. In 1835 he was 
appointed professor of moral and intellectual philoso- 
phy in Amherst College, and a year later resigned to 
accept a chair at Andover, where he has since resided. 
Professor Park's published Works naturally grew 
out of his professional studies, and are mostly doc- 
trinal in their character. He edited the Writings of 
the Rev. William Bradford Homer, with a Memoir, 
and the Writings of Professor B. B. Edwards, with a 
Memoir. He wrote a work entitled ** The Preacher 
and Pastor," and, with collaborators, published a vol- 
ume of hymns; also a treatise on hymnology, en- 



152 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 

titled " Hymns and Choirs." He contributed to cur- 
rent theological literature, and was one of the editors 
of the *' Bibliotheca Sacra" from the beginning. His 
published discourses on various occasions gained for 
him a commanding position in his denomination. 
His sermons are weighty with thought, simple in dic- 
tion, direct in their motive and argument, and leave a 
deep impression upon the mind. He must be con- 
sidered as one of the ablest of the clergy, and a 
leading representative of New England theology. 



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 

r^ LIVER WENDELL HOLMES was born in 
^-^ Cambridge, Mass., August 29, 1809. He was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1829. He received 
his degree of M. D. in 1836, after some years of study 
both at home and abroad. He was chosen professor 
of anatomy and physiology in Dartmouth College in 
1838, and was called to the chair of anatomy in 
Harvard College in 1847, which he held until 18 — . 

Dr. Holmes began writing poetry at an early age. 
A small collection was published in 1836. Referring 
now to those first attempts, with the impressions of 
later triumphs in mind, we are almost surprised at the 
beauty of many lines, as under the splendor of a 
declining day we see beauties not revealed to us in 
the morning landscape. 



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 1 53 

"Urania, a Rhymed Lesson," was published in' 
1846, and was included in a collection (1848) contain- 
ing " Terpsichore," '^ Urania," and '' Poetry : A Met- 
rical Essay," etc. These are good names with which 
to conjure up forms of youthful grace. *' Astraea, 
the Balance of Illusions," appeared in 1850; '' Songs 
in Many Keys " in 1861 ; *' Songs of Many Seasons " 
in 1875; "The Schoolboy" in 1878; "The Iron 
Gate" in 1880; "Before the Curfew'' in 1888. Be- 
sides these, a great many poems have been published 
separately with illustrations ; such as " The Last 
Leaf," " Grandmother's Story of the Battle of Bunker 
Hill," " Dorothy Q.," " The One-Hoss Shay," etc. 

Upon the establishment of the " Atlantic Monthly " 
in 1857, Dr. Holmes began a series of papers entitled 
" The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." This proved 
to be a literary event, and the appearance of each 
successive number raised the fame of the author still 
higher. The next year he followed the happy inven- 
tion by a series on a similar plan, entitled " The 
Professor at the Breakfast Table." " Elsie Venner," a 
psychological novel, appeared in 1861, and "The 
Guardian Angel " in 1867. Another series of delight- 
ful essays, entitled " The Poet at the Breakfast Table," 
was begun in the " Atlantic " January, 1872. 

Dr. Holmes has also published a great many medi- 
cal essays and addresses, and a very powerful essay 
upon the functions of the brain, entitled " Mechanism 
in Thought and Morals." His later works are " Life 
of Motley" (1879); "Life of Emerson" (1884); 
"A Mortal Antipathy " (1885) ; "Medical Essays" 



154 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 

(1842 and 1882); ''Our Hundred Days," the journal 
of a trip to Europe, in 1887. These titles give but 
an imperfect notion of Dr. Holmes's mental activity. 
His orations, addresses, essays, and lectures would 
fill many volumes. Some of the most notable of 
these, such as " The Gambrel-Roofed House " and 
" My Hunt after the Captain," appeared in the ** At- 
lantic." A collection of them, " Soundings from the 
Atlantic," appeared in 1864. The Autocrat was wel- 
comed everywhere in Great Britain with distinguished 
honor, and received degrees from the Universities of 
Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh. In the " Atlan- 
tic " for 1890 he wrote a new series of articles in the 
familiar vein, " Over the Teacups." 

There are authors whose qualities are ascertained 
by a not very difficult analysis. The intellect of 
Holmes, though manifesting many and strongly- 
marked attributes, eludes all tests, preserves its indi- 
viduality, and remains unclassified among original 
elements. When we think of the familiar confidences 
of the Autocrat, we might liken him to Montaigne; 
but while the parallel is being considered, we come 
upon passages so full of tingling hits or of rollicking 
fun that we are sure we are mistaken, and that he 
resembles no one so much as Sydney Smith. Pres- 
ently he sounds the depths of our consciousness, 
explores the concealed channels of feeling, flashes 
the light of genius upon our half-acknowledged 
thoughts, — and we see that this is what neither the 
great Gascon nor the hearty and jovial Englishman 
would have attempted. We are equally puzzled when 



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 1 55 

we would consider his verse. The alternations of 
tender sentiment, humor, and mirthful satire might 
remind us of Hood; his lyrics have the high spirit 
of the best pieces of Campbell ; the charming sim- 
plicity and delicate feeling of other poems recall the 
songs of Beranger. Then we see that he is like them 
all, or rather like neither. Some of his stanzas have 
a compactness, finish, and lustre that we may fairly 
call Horatian ; scarcely any one since Pope has con- 
densed so much power into lines of such elastic 
movement. 

Though Dr. Holmes has written prose and verse 
with equal success, and would have been famous in 
either field, still all his works are pervaded by the 
same original and characteristic traits. It is difficult 
to consider his poetry by itself when there is con- 
stantly breaking into our inner chamber of judgment 
a troop of recollections from the Autocrat : Wit, with 
glittering eye and assailing forefinger ; Irony, with one 
side of the face severe, and the other wearing a mock- 
ing smile; Puns, like Siamese twins in harlequin suits, 
turning somersaults; grave figures in dominoes, with 
the port of Lord Bacon or the sharp glances of 
Voltaire ; and white-robed Sentiment, her tender 
bosom heaving, her dewy tears scarce brushed 
away, and mortally afraid of being made ridiculous 
by some prank of the merry company. And if 
in the same silent session we were to take up the 
most brilliant of his prose works, we should hardly 
turn half-a-dozen leaves without coming upon some 
lyric of the sea or the street, some delicate strain 



156 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 

of remembered love, or sterling lesson of duty, or 
scholastic legend with a sting in its tail; and we 
should declare that Holmes was simply and purely 
a poet. 

In the Table Talk, the miracle is that one mind 
could so long from its own resources, as from a quarry, 
furnish so many blocks of wisdom, so many sculp- 
tured forms of beauty and blazing gems of illustra- 
tion. A clever writer might comment forever upon 
daily events or current literature, as Sainte-Beuve did 
in his " Causeries du Lundi ; " but to turn inward his 
Ipok; to interest an indifferent public solely in his 
own bright, strange, deep, and wayward thoughts 
and fancies ; to suggest subtile resemblances and 
remote associations between the outer and inner 
world ; to invest intellectual processes with such a 
charm as to make each reader fancy himself (for 
the time) another Plato, and then to close each con- 
versation with a hymn of fitting beauty, — to be 
able so to illuminate our " thought's interior sphere" 
is a task for a genius. 

Holmes has undoubtedly suffered in the estimation 
of the unthinking as the author of comic verses. As 
he himself says, they 

" suspect the azure blossom that unfolds upon the shoot, 
As if wisdom's old potato could not flourish at the root." 

But if he had never perpetrated a joke he would have 
been one of the most original of essayists ; and when 
the sallies that have set tables in a roar, and even the 
lyrics that have set a nation's heart throbbing, have 



ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. I 57 

been forgotten, still his picture of the " Ship of 
Pearl " and the monumental stanza in the *' Last Leaf" 
will preserve his name forever. 



ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. 

nOBERT CHARLES WINTHROP, a lineal de- 
scendant of the first governor of Massachusetts, 
was born in Boston, May 12, 1809. He was educated 
at the Latin School and at Harvard College, receiving 
his degree in 1828. He studied law in the ofiice of 
Daniel Webster; but soon after his admission to the 
bar, he began a public career. He was a member of 
the State legislature for six years, during three of 
which he was speaker of the House. He was elected 
to Congress in 1840, and remained in that service, 
excepting a short interval, for ten years. He was 
chosen speaker of the national House of Representa- 
tives in 1847, and in 1849 was the Whig candidate for 
re-election to the same position. The Free Soil mem- 
bers held the balance of power between the Whigs 
and Democrats. Mr. Winthrop refused to give any 
pledges as to the manner in which he would constitute 
the committees of the House if he should be elected. 
The antislavery men thereupon refused to support 
him ; and after sixty-three ballots the Democratic 
candidate, Mr. Howell Cobb of Georgia, was elected. 
In 1850 he was appointed by the governor United 



158 ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. 

States senator, as successor to Webster, who bad 
been made secretary of state. In 185 1 he was the 
candidate of the Whigs for the United States senator- 
ship, but was defeated by Charles Sumner, through a 
coahtion of the Democratic and Free Soil parties. He 
was a candidate for governor the following autumn, 
and received a large plurality of votes ; but as a 
majority of all the votes was then required, there was 
no choice by the people, and the election devolved 
upon the State legislature. The result was that Mr. 
Boutwell, who was the Democratic candidate, was re- 
elected. Since that time he has taken no active part 
in political affairs, but has devoted his leisure mainly 
to literary pursuits. He has been prominent in the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, which is engaged 
in the useful work of printing books and manuscripts 
relating to our annals. He is one of the trustees, 
under the will of George Peabody, of the fund for 
promoting popular education in the Southern States. 
He has delivered a number of orations and discourses 
upon historical, patriotic, and religious subjects. He 
has published the Life and Letters of John Winthrop, 
in two volumes; also a Memoir of Nathan Appleton, 
and discourses commemorative of Prescott, Quincy, 
Everett, Peabody, and others. 

Mr. Winthrop's addresses and speeches have been 
published in three volumes. Though classed with 
statesmen, he belongs also with literary men ; being 
not only a scholar, but a writer of original force. 



JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. I 59 



JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 

TAMES FREEMAN CLARKE was born in Han- 
*^ over, N. H., April 4, 18 10, and died in Boston 
June 8, 1888. He was graduated at Harvard College 
in the class of 1829, made famous by numerous anni- 
versary poems written by Holmes. He was pastor of 
the Unitarian Church in Louisville, Ky., from 1833 to 
1840. In 1 84 1 he founded the Church of the Disci- 
ples in Boston, and was its pastor for forty-five years. 
He was prominent in educational and philanthropic 
work, and was for a time professor and lecturer in the 
Harvard Divinity School. He was an able and volu- 
minous writer, as the list of his Works will show. 

The book by which Dr. Clarke will be best known is 
"The Life and Times of Jesus," first published as "The 
Legend of Thomas Didymus." He held a conserva- 
tive position in regard to the New Testament narra- 
tives, admitting most of the " wonderful works " and 
the resurrection. He was an idealist, a foe to materi- 
alist doctrine. This work is intended to reproduce 
the sublime story in a series of dramatic pictures, 
taken from different points of view. None but a man 
of imagination could have conceived the design ; 
none but a man of great learning could have filled in 
the historical details; and none but a man of tender 
piety could have etched the beautiful representations 
of the Christ. The naked story, as Mr. Clarke con- 
ceived it, would have covered less than half the space 
now occupied, and had it been so written it might 



l6o JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 

have been a book to go around the world ; but he 
was theologian, preacher, and commentator as well 
as dramatist, and as such he felt bound to supply a 
full account of the state of Judaism in Jerusalem, 
Alexandria, and elsewhere, together with a syn- 
optical arrangement of the gospel narratives and a 
reference to every parable, saying, miracle, and mem- 
orable event in the life of Christ. Encumbered with 
this precious weight, the dramatic action lags. It is 
among the important and interesting books upon the 
origin of Christianity, though not the great and im- 
pressive pictorial drama which the author had pro- 
posed to make. Too much learning may drown an 
author, *' like gold in a swimmer's pocket." 

Dr. Clarke's chief works are as follows : ** Theo- 
dore ; Or, the Sceptic's Conversion, " translated from 
the German (1841); "History of the Campaign of 
1812: A Vindication of General Hull" (1848); 
•'Eleven Weeks in Europe " (1852) ; " Christian Doc- 
trine of Forgiveness of Sin" (1852) ; "Chris- 
tian Doctrine of Prayer " (1854); Karl Hase's Life 
of Jesus, from the German (i860); "The Hour 
which Cometh" (1864); "Orthodoxy: Its Truths 
and Errors" (1866); "Steps of Belief" a religious 
polemic (1870); "Ten Great Religions" (1871- 
1883); "Exotics: Translations in Verse" (1876); 
"Go Up Higher," sermons (1877); "Essentials in 
Religion" (1878); " Memorial Sketches " (1878); 
"How to Find the Stars" (1878); "Events and 
Epochs in Religious History" (1881); "Legend of 
Thomas Didymus ; Or, The Life and Times of Jesus " 



MARGARET FULLER. l6l 

(1881) ; '* Self-Culture " (1882); "The Ideas of the 
Apostle Paul" (1884); '' Antislavery Days" (1884); 
" Every Day Religion " (1886) ; *' Vexed Questions " 
(1886). 

In this list of Dr. Clarke's Works some volumes of 
sermons and discourses are omitted. 



MARGARET FULLER. 

CARAH MARGARET FULLER, by marriage 
*^ Marchioness Ossoli, was born in Cambridge, 
Mass., May 23, 18 10. She was educated by her 
father, who injudiciously gave her tasks that devel- 
oped her mental faculties at the expense of a sound 
bodily organization. She was a prodigy of learning, 
and early devoured languages and literatures. She 
spent a few years in teaching, and in 1840 was prin- 
cipal editor of " The Dial," a periodical devoted to 
Transcendental philosophy. In 1844 she became 
connected with the New York " Tribune," and wrote 
for it reviews and miscellaneous articles, which in 
1846 were collected and published under the title of 
" Papers on Art and Literature." She went to Europe 
in 1846, and after extensive travels reached Rome in 
the spring of 1847. I^^ December of that year she 
was married to the Marquis Ossoli. She remained in 
Rome during the revolution of 1848, and through the 
siege by the P>ench the year after. In May, 1850, 



1 62 MARGARET FULLER. 

she embarked with her husband and infant son at 
Leghorn, in the ship " Ehzabeth," for New York, and 
when near port perislied with them in the wreck of 
the vessel on Fire Island. 

Three of her intimate friends — Ralph Waldo Emer- 
son, William Henry Channing, and James Freeman 
Clarke — wrote an account of her life, each contribut- 
ing a separate view. From this work, as well as from 
the concurrent testimony of other competent judges, 
it is evident that Margaret Fuller (as we prefer 
to call her) was a woman of rare genius. She de- 
lighted in abstruse themes, and in criticism of litera- 
ture and art. Clubs of her adm^irers met statedly to 
hear her discourse. At the same time the habit of 
monologue rendered her manners disagreeable to 
many persons and gave to her opinions an oracular 
tone. In her published Works there are passages of 
great power and beauty. Her descriptions of scenery 
— that of Niagara, for instance — are given with a 
few bold strokes that suggest much more than at first 
meets the eye. She paints, in fact, our inward emotion 
in presence of the scene; and so gives us the ideal of 
Nature. Her critical articles often show insight and 
the power of clear statement; but either she was 
warped by personal dislikes, or she took pleasure in 
demolishing popular idols. For instance, she styled 
Longfellow " a dandy Pindar." In her view there 
were but half-a-dozen persons with brains in America. 
In her way of writing, the editorial 2ve had a royal 
sound. German philosophy had but recently come 
in fashion, and its phrases infected all its votaries. 



MARGARET FULLER. 1 63 

It was some time before it was discovered that phi- 
losophic diction did not ahvays clothe philosophic 
thought. 

Perhaps Margaret Fuller, at the time of her too 
early death, had passed through her destructive stage, 
and was ready to build. Perhaps if she had lived she 
would have justified the opinions of her admirers by 
the creation of some great work. Indeed, she is said 
to have had in her possession at the time of the ship- 
wreck a manuscript work which she had prepared on 
the then recent revolution in Europe, of which she 
and some of her friends had high expectations. If 
this v/cre so, the calamity of the shipwreck is the 
more to be lamented. As in the case of great ora- 
tors, actors, and singers, who, after charming a gener- 
ation, die and leave only a tradition of their powers, 
this extraordinary woman will be scarcely more than 
a name in literary history. 

Something, however, of Margaret Fuller's influence 
survives. The advocates for the elevation of woman 
hold her in high regard as a pioneer in their cause. 
In this, as in everything else in which she took part, 
she put her own intense personality forward, and did 
much to win for her sex the right of discussion and 
the privilege of being heard. 

Besides the " Papers on Art and Literature," before 
mentioned, this author wrote " Woman in the Nine- 
teenth Century ; " also letters from P^urope, which were 
published under the title of " At Home and Abroad " 
(1856). This last work included " Summer on the 
Lakes," which w^s originally published in 1843 5 'ilso 



1 64 THEODORE PARKER. 

notices of her life and character by Bayard Taylor 
and Horace Greeley, and commemorative poems by 
Walter Savage Landor and others. She translated 
Eckermann's "Conversations with Goethe" (1839), 
and " The Letters of Giinderode and Bettine " (1841). 



THEODORE PARKER. 

T^HEODORE PARKER was born in Lexington, 
Mass., August 24, 18 10. He received only a 
common-school education, until in his seventeenth 
year he procured the necessary books and fitted him- 
self to enter college. He worked on his father's farm 
while pursuing his studies, and in 1830 entered the 
freshman class at Harvard. Though he remained 
but a year, it is said he went over the studies of three 
years. He then taught school until, in 1834, he en- 
tered the Cambridge Divinity School. During this 
period and through his whole life he devoted his time 
to learning, in almost every department, especially in 
that of languages. He was familiar with Latin, Greek, 
Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, German, French, Spanish, 
Italian, Russian, Danish, and Swedish, and perhaps 
with more. He was able to read fluently in over 
twenty languages and dialects. Metaphysics, history, 
politics, literature, and whatever was nearest furnished 
the aliment without which he could not exist. 

In 1837 Mr. Parker was settled as pastor of a Uni- 



THEODORE TARKER. 165 

tarian church in West Roxbuiy. Before long his views 
took a form not in accordance with the teachings of 
his clerical brethren. This change was announced in 
a sermon preached at the ordination of the Rev. C. C. 
Shackford in South Boston, in 1841, of which the sig- 
nificant title was " The Transient and Permanent in 
Christianity." He went to Europe in 1843, and spent 
a year. In 1845 he began to preach for the Twenty- 
eighth Congregational Society, an independent gath- 
ering: of his followers, and thenceforth had no con- 
nection with the Unitariai^ body. He attracted large 
audiences, first in the Melodeon and afterward in the 
Music Hall. He regarded the Bible as a religious 
history, but denied its plenary inspiration, if not its 
divine origin. He might be called a Transcendental 
theist. He developed his idea of God from the oper- 
ations of reason, and with great earnestness taught 
the doctrine of an immortal life. He was an advocate 
of temperance, of social reform, and of universal 
liberty. The antislavery movement was then new 
and unpopular. He was naturally attacked both by 
religious teachers and by party leaders, and his retorts 
were constant and bitter. In fact, he could never 
forget his opponents; and in the midst of the most 
pathetic or the most noble passages in his sermons, 
the epithets of " kidnapper " and " pharisee " were 
sure to occur. He was the constant friend of fugitive 
slaves, and at one time was indicted for counselling 
resistance to the authorities when a slave named 
Anthony Burns was delivered back to his master. 
In private life he was amiable, tender, and helpful, as 



1 66 THEODORE PARKER. 

well as joyous, simple, and fresh in feeling. A large 
part of his income was applied to charitable purposes. 
He visited all classes of people, exploring the mid- 
night haunts of vice and the dwellings of the poor 
and outcast. He was ably seconded in social and 
pastoral duties by his wife (born Lydia Cabot), 
a woman of beauty, accomplishments, and noble 
character. 

Mr. Parker's writings are generally strong and rugged 
in style. He addresses the reason, and makes few ap- 
peals to the emotions. But his love of Nature was 
intense; and nearly every discourse has some tribute 
to the beauty of the seasons, and some illustration cf 
spiritual truth drawn from the visible world. He 
excelled also in pathetic description, and gave to the 
ideas of home, parents, children, age, and death a 
tender and impressive charm. His chief deficiency 
as a writer was in taste, the want of which often mars 
his general literary excellence. 

Mr. Parker's life of constant activity exhausted his 
vital forces, and in January, 1859, he relinquished his 
charge, and sailed to Santa Cruz, and thence to 
Europe. He spent some time in Switzerland and 
Italy, and died at Florence, May 10, i860. 

Mr. Parker's Works are a *' Discourse of Matters 
Pertaining to Religion ; " " Sermons of Theism, Athe- 
ism, and the Popular Theology; " " Ten Sermons of 
Religion ; " " Additional Speeches, Addresses, and 
Occasional Sermons ; " " Critical and Miscellaneous 
Writings;" "Historic Americans: Franklin, Wash- 
ington, Adams, and Jefferson," — four original and 



EDGAR ALLAN FOE. 1 6/ 

powerful sketches of character ; **The Trial of Theo- 
dore Parker ; " " Prayers ; " " Selections from the 
World of Mind and Matter;" "Translation of De 
Wette's Introduction to the Old Testament," etc. 
His Life was written by the Rev. John Weiss. His 
large and valuable collection of books — over thir- 
teen thousand volumes — was given by him to the 
Boston Public Library. 



EDGAR ALLAN POE. 

"CDGAR POE was born in Baltimore in January, 
1811. He was the son of a lawyer, who had 
abandoned his profession, married an actress, and 
gone upon the stage. Upon the death of his par- 
ents, Edgar, who was a bright and beautiful boy, was 
adopted and carefully educated by Mr. John Allan, 
of Richmond, Va. He was sent to school at Stoke 
Newington, near London, for some years, and after- 
ward entered the University of Virginia. He was 
the foremost scholar of his class, and might have fin- 
ished his course with honor; but he was expelled 
for his profligate habits. From this time he had 
"adventures" enough to furnish the incidents for an 
eighteenth-century novel. Having contracted debts 
which his patron refused to pay, he went abroad to 
join the patriot Greeks ; but a year later he appeared 
at St. Pctersburc:, in a state of destitution, and was sent 



l68 EDGAR ALLAN FOE. 

home by the interposition of the American minister. 
Mr. Allan received him with forgiveness, and pro- 
cured his appointment as a cadet at West Point In 
ten months he was expelled. On returning home he 
found that Mr. Allan had married a young and hand- 
some woman for a second wife. For some grave 
reason, not made public, Poe was turned out of the 
house, and the relationship was at an end. Mr. Allan 
died not long after, and made no mention of Poe in 
his will. 

Poe published a small volume of poems in Balti- 
more, but shortly after he was driven by poverty to 
enlist as a common soldier in the army. He deserted, 
as might have been expected. He next obtained a 
prize offered for a story, and found friends through 
whose aid he became editor of the " Literary Messen- 
ger" in Richmond. He worked with great industry 
for a while, but soon fell into bad habits, quarrelled 
with the proprietor, and was dismissed. While in 
Richmond he had married his cousin; and with her 
he went to New York, and became a contributor to 
literary periodicals. He edited " Burton's Magazine," 
and then *' Graham's Magazine " in Philadelphia. 
After the usual quarrel here with his employer he re- 
turned to New York, and was employed by Willis on 
the ''Mirror." In the mean time his "Adventures 
of Arthur Gordon Pym," the " Tales of the Grotesque 
and the Arabesque," and his remarkable story " The 
Gold Bug" had been published. His poem "The 
Raven" appeared in the "American Review," and 
gave him an immense reputation. At this time he 



EDGAR ALLAN POE. 1 69 

enjoyed a season of comparative quiet. He became 
connected with the " Broadway Journal," which he 
edited for a year or more. He pubHshed a series 
of criticisms in the "Lady's Book," styled ''The 
Literati," now forming the third volume of his 
Works. It is seldom that such a savage, wielding 
such weapons, puts on the war-paint and attempts 
such havoc in the peaceful fields of letters. Not that 
there was not a great deal of power and some grains 
of truth in his strictures; but his want of moral 
principle, his prejudices, wih'ulness, and brutality 
combined to render them the most worthless, as they 
were the most ill-mannered, articles ever printed. He 
praised the vapid productions of obscure authors, 
and condemned every poet of repute. Time, which 
is the test of excellence, has made his passionate 
invectives and commendations alike pointless. 

After the death of his wife Poe formed an engage- 
ment with a lady in Richmond, and the wedding 
day was fixed. On his way to New York, he fell in 
with some of his old companions in dissipation at 
Baltimore ; he soon became drunk, wandered into 
the streets, and the same night perished miserably 
from exposure (October 7, 1849). 

Poe appears to have been wanting in moral sense. 
His intellect was sharp, electric, powerful, and had 
been carefully trained. Of the cultivation which 
books and study give he had no small measure. His 
sense of melotly, his perception of the proprieties of 
style and of just proportion in structure, were mar- 
vellous. With a reasonable share of honesty he 



170 EUGAR ALLAN POE. 

might have made an admirable critic ; the want of it 
made his praise and his censure as uncertain as the 
wind, and as httle regarded. The reader will search 
his Works in vain for an exhibition of real feeling. 
" The Raven," as all admit, is a wonderful poem ; but 
it has not a line that might not have been written by 
a fallen and unrepentant angel. His tales are master- 
pieces of construction ; but when their secret is re- 
vealed their interest is at an end, for they have no 
elements of human sympathy; they are miracles of 
clock-work, — not immoral, but ////-moral. 

There is sometimes a period in the growth of men 
when the intellect is deified, and goodness little 
esteemed. But if youth would be taught what mere 
intellect may be without the moral element, let them 
consider the Works, the character, and career of 
Poe. The poet must express his inmost qualities 
in his verse ; and the noblest poetry in all its va- 
ried but harmonious elements is the visible soul of 
the noblest man. 

Many biographies of Poe have appeared, in some 
of which his faults are extenuated. His character 
as here given is dark, but lamentably true. The 
facts which establish it were related to the author of 
this work by persons who had been closely associated 
with Poe in New York, and who had full opportunity 
to know him as he was. In genius and in poetic art 
he was transcendent. His few finished poems are in 
many qualities unsurpassed. To have made him a 
great poet it was only necessary that he should have 
been a purer, nobler, and more feeling man. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON GREENE. 1 71 

Poe's complete Works were published in four vol- 
umes, New York, 1849. Many other editions have 
since appeared, especially in England, where he 
divides with Walt Whitman the admiration of the 
public. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON GREENE. 

/^EORGE WASHINGTON GREENE was born 
in East Greenwich, R. I., April 8, 181 1, and 
died Eeb. 2, 1883. He entered Brown University, 
but left in his junior year on account of ill health, 
and went to Europe, where he" remained, excepting a 
few visits to this country, until 1847. From 1837 ^^ 
1845 ^^^ ^'^^ United States consul at Rome. He 
wrote for the " North American Review " a series of 
essays upon Italian history, which have been collected 
under the title of " Historical Studies." On his re- 
turn to the United States he became professor of 
modern languages at Brown University. In 1852 he 
removed to New York, where he edited the Works of 
Addison (1854), and continued writing for periodi- 
cals. He wrote, for Sparks's ''American Biography," 
the Life of his grandfather. General Nathanael Greene, 
and he published (1867-71) an enlarged edition of 
the General's Life and Letters, 3 vols., 8vo. A second 
series of his essays was published, entitled "An His- 
torical View of the American Revolution." His other 



1/2 ALFRED BILLINGS STREET. 

Works are " History and Geography of the Middle 
Ages" (1851); *' Biographical Studies" (i860) 
" Nathanael Greene : An Examination of the Ninth 
Volume of Bancroft's History" (1866); "The Ger- 
man Element in the War of American Independ- 
ence" (1876) ; " A Short History of Rhode Island" 
(1877). He delivered a course of historical lectures 
in Cornell University in 1873. 

The Works of Mr. Greene command the respect of 
scholars from the faithful study they exhibit, as well 
as for the moderation of tone and the clear and easy 
style in which they are written. 



ALERED BILLINGS STREET. 

ALERED BILLINGS STREET was born in 
^^ Poughkeepsie, N. Y., December 18, 181 1, and 
died in Albany, June 2, 1881. At fourteen years 
of age he removed with his father to Monticello, 
in Sullivan County, where he studied law and was 
admitted to the bar. In 1839 he removed to 
Albany, where he established his home and was 
appointed to the place of State librarian. 

Mr. Street's first volume, entitled "The Burning of 
Schenectady, and other Poems," was published in 
1842. In 1844 a collection appeared entitled " Draw- 
ings and Tintings." " Frontenac," his longest poem, 
appeared in 1849. He published a history of certain 



ALFRED BILLINGS STREET. 1 73 

New York courts, entitled "The Council of Revision," 
in i860, and in the same year an account of the Sara- 
nac and Raquette lakes, of northern New York, under 
the title of ** Woods and Waters." 

Mr. Street had the tastes of a landscape painter of 
the realistic school. As we read his pages, we walk 
with him through the forests and by the banks of riv- 
ers. He gives us a minute and faithful record of every 
picturesque view, a notice of every variety of tree 
and flower, and of every native of the woods. His 
perception of the beautiful was not of general effects, 
but of details, and we have carefully painted studies 
rather than comprehensive pictures. The points that 
fill the eye or strike the ear with pleasure are all 
enumerated, but we miss the imaginative power that 
blends the separate observations into a rounded whole. 
This is the faculty which he lacked, and it is the 
crowning faculty of the poet. There is no doubt that 
Street wrought with conscientious fidelity, and that 
his studies are true and beautiful. But his range of 
thought, as well as of observation, was not the broad- 
est; and he must be classed among the painstaking 
students of Nature, and not among the masters of its 
secret power, the interpreters of its divine lessons. 



174 NOAH PORTER, 



NOAH PORTER. 

IVjOAH PORTER was born in P^armington, Conn., 
^^ in 1811, and was graduated at Yale College in 
183 1. He studied theology at the Yale School while 
tutor in the college, and was ordained pastor of the 
Congregational Church at New Milford, Conn., in 
1836. In 1843 he removed to Springfield, Mass., 
where he remained until 1847, when he was appointed 
professor of moral philosophy and metaphysics in 
Yale College. He held this place until 1871, when, 
on the retirement of Dr. Woolsey, he was chosen 
president. He died Sept. 24, 1886. 

Dr. Porter's principal work is a text-book upon 
mental philosophy, entitled " The Human Intellect," 
considered by many to be on the whole the ablest 
presentation of its great subject in a popular form. 
He published in 1870 a volume on Books and 
Reading, — a very candid, discriminating, and catho- 
lic treatise. His other Works are "The Educational 
Systems of the Puritans and the Jesuits" (1851); 
"The American Colleges and the American Public" 
(1870); "Elements of Intellectual Science" (1871); 
" The Sciences of Nature versus the Science of Man : 
A Plea for the Science of Man" (1871); " Evange- 
line, the Place, the Story, and the Poem" (1882); 
"Science and Sentiment" (1882); "The Elements 
of Moral Science" (1885); "The Eife of Bishop 
Berkeley" (1885); "Kant's Ethics: A Critical Ex- 
position" (1886). He was a contributor to the " New 



WENDELL PHILLIPS. 1/5 

Englander " and other periodicals, and published oc- 
casional discourses and addresses. He was also editor- 
in-chief of a revised edition of Webster's Dictionary, 
in which the etymologies were wrought over, and the 
definitions recast. He was an admirable and power- 
ful writer. 



WENDELL PHILLIPS. 

\^ENDELL PHILLIPS was born in Boston, 
Mass., November, 29, 181 1, and died Feb. 2, 
1884. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1831, 
and at the Cambridge Law School in 1833. ^^ made 
his first appearance as an orator in December, 1837, 
at a public meeting held in Faneuil Hall, to take some 
notice of the murder of the Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, at 
Alton, 111. (Mr. Lovejoy had established an anti- 
slavery paper in Alton, and his ofhce had been re- 
cently mobbed, and he killed while defending his 
property.) The conservative portion of the audience 
under the lead of the attorney-general, endeavored to 
frustrate the purpose of those who called the meeting. 
Mr. Phillips was young and comparatively unknown; 
but he was roused by the occasion, and in a brilliant 
strain of invective he attacked the position of those 
who attempted to palliate the crime which had been 
committed against a free press. His impassioned 
eloquence captivated the audience ; the opposition 



176 WENDELL PHILLIPS. 

was silenced, and the original resolutions presented 
were adopted. 

Mr. Phillips continued to labor in behalf of the 
antislavery cause, although he and his party ab- 
stained from voting and from political action, because 
they would not swear to support the Constitution of 
the United States so long as it protected slavery. 
After the institution was abolished, he found abun- 
dant fields for his labors as a reformer. He was one 
of the leading advocates of woman suffrage; he 
was vehement in support of a law that should make 
it a penal offence to sell intoxicating drinks. He was 
a friend of the labor reformers in their desire to 
lighten the burdens and increase the comforts and 
the mental cultivation of the poor; he took up the 
cause of the Irish nationalists with his accustomed 
energy, and sustained their claims against the British 
government in speeches of extraordinary force. 

As an orator Mr. Phillips had few rivals and 
scarcely a superior in his generation. His voice was 
musical, his manner at once earnest and graceful, and 
his command of a fluent and idiomatic speech little 
less than marvellous. He was a great master of all 
the arts of attack. Preachers, politicians, and men in 
high places generally, who differed from him in opin- 
ion, were the subjects of his keen ridicule and his 
withering sarcasm. Like the old prophets, he had 
always a " burden." He was a natural leader of men 
when on the platform ; he knew how to reach their 
hearts, — if not through their reason and their moral 
sense, then by their pride, their local prejudices, and 



WENDELL PHILLIPS. 1 7/ 

their affections. But those who listened to his utter- 
ances, whether in fervid denunciation, protest, or 
pathetic appeal, seldom had the opportunity to ex- 
amine in cool blood the true character of the rhetoric 
that fascinated them. While they watched the mag- 
nificent stream of eloquence, it seemed like the course 
of a river of molten lava ; but that lava when cooled 
and hardened was often rough and seamed. 

Mr. Phillips's speeches were collected in two hand- 
some volumes, with a portrait. Viewed simply as 
specimens o( composition, these volumes are some- 
what disappointing. The apt illustration, the witty 
anecdote, the emphatic statement, the traces of strong 
feeling, are to be seen in every discourse; but there 
are also phrases and epithets which, while they might 
pass in an off-hand speech, on the printed page de- 
base style and weaken force. It would seem that this 
was a deliberate choice, and that the orator had no 
regard for literature except so far as it served prac- 
tical ends. 

Mr. Phillips was long a popular lecturer, and never 
failed to interest his audiences. Matter and manner 
were in perfect accord, and his stately presence and 
melodious tones left impressions which were never 
forgotten. His last great effort was an address before 
the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard University, 
delivered June 30, 1881. It appears that Mr. Phillips 
did not desire that his Life should be written ; and 
up to this time only a popular biography has ap- 
peared, prepared by George Lowell Austin. 

12 



1/8 CHARLES SUMNER. 



CHARLES SUMNER. 

r^HARLES SUMNER was bom in Boston, Jan- 
^ uary 6, 1811, and died March 11, 1874. He 
was educated in the Boston Latin School, and at 
Harvard College, where he received his degree in 
1830. He studied law, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1834. Although successful in practice, he 
o;ave his attention more to the theorv of law, and 
soon became known as an able writer on legal sub- 
jects. He was for three years reporter of the Circuit 
Court, and was at different times lecturer at the 
Cambridge Law School. In 1845, on the 4th of 
July, he delivered an oration before the municipal 
authorities of Boston, on the " True Grandeur of 
Nations," in which he denounced the impending war 
with Mexico, and advocated the settlement of all 
national controversies by arbitration. Mr. Sumner 
was originally a Whig, but was led by the course 
of events to join the Free Soil party. In 1851 the 
Democratic and Free Soil parties having formed a 
coalition to carry the State election, he was, after a 
long and animated contest, chosen United States sen- 
ator to succeed Daniel Webster. In the Senate he 
opposed the fugitive-slave bill in a speech in which 
he announced the doctrine that " freedom is national, 
slavery sectional." In 1856, after the delivery of his 
speech entitled '* The Crime against Kansas," in 
which were some passages that were highly offensive 
to slaveholders, he was assaulted, while at his desk 



CHARLES SUMNER. I 79 

in the Senate chamber, with a heavy cane, by Preston 
S. Brooks of South Carohna, and was so severely 
injured that he was unable to perform any mental 
labor for some years. On resuming his seat, in the 
autumn of 1859, he delivered a speech that was after- 
ward printed under the title of " The Barbarism of 
Slavery." During the rebellion which followed the 
election of Abraham Lincoln, he advocated the 
emancipation of the slaves as the effective mode of 
ending the contest. For many years he was the lead- 
ing member of the Senate. In 1861 he was made 
chairman of the committee on foreign relations, which 
position he held until 1870, when he was displaced on 
account of not agreeing with his political associates 
in the support of President Grant. 

Mr. Sumner's orations and speeches, taken in their 
order, might almost form a history of the antislavery 
movement in its connection with national politics. 
He always insisted that the amendments in favor of 
freedom were but the legitimate development of the 
original doctrines of the Constitution. 

Mr. Sumner was distinguished for his learning, 
especially in history and public law. In his efforts 
on great occasions his citations of authorities were 
absolutely bewildering. His mind was comprehen- 
sive and logical, his methods direct and forcible, his 
spirit vehement and indomitable. As he moved on 
he left no point untouched, no matter how trite or 
familiar it might be ; proposition was riveted to pro- 
position, until the whole statement was like a piece of 
plate-armor. But this scrupulous gathering up of de- 



l8o CHARLES SUMNER. 

tails, and the copiousness of illustration by historical 
parallels, though effective with audiences and useful 
for popular instruction, often render portions of his 
speeches, when printed, tedious to cultivated readers, 
who are oppressed by the amplifications, the repe- 
titions, and the profusion of learned quotations with 
which the argument is loaded. The field he passed 
over was sure to be thoroughly swept. The audiences 
who listened were always profoundly impressed with 
his power and sincerity. The antagonist who followed 
him had always a task demanding his best efforts. 

Mr. Sumner's style acquired a certain professional 
or state-paper tone. It was formal and stately, re- 
vealing the statesman and the author of didactic 
treatises rather than the man of letters. The eleva- 
tion of his thought is a moral elevation. As we read, 
we seem to be on high ground and to breathe pure 
mountain air. There is no compromise with wrong, 
no paltering with worldly policy. Political discussions 
conducted in such a spirit rise to the dignity of pure 
ethics, and are as inspiring as they are impressive. 
Much of the effect of Mr. Sumner's speeches is due 
to this pervading moral element. He is not greatly 
imaginative, and his ample utterances, unlike the 
copious and glowing diction of Burke, appear to be 
the result of painstaking industry. 

Mr. Sumner had an enviable distinction in what we 
must consider a corrupt age: he was so noted for 
inflexible honesty that no one ever ventured to sug- 
gest that he had an interested motive for his conduct. 
In person he was very tall, and wore a look of dignity 



ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY. l8l 

and conscious power. There are few in his genera- 
tion that have left beliind a more exalted reputation 
for the quahties that constitute a great and good man. 
The Works of Mr. Sumner, in fifteen volumes, 8vo., 
with portrait, are published by Lee and Shepard, Bos- 
ton. His biography was undertaken by Edward L. 
Pierce, two volumes of which appeared in 1877, and 
two more (completing the work) are just issued. In 
VVhittier's Works will be found a stately poem which 
gives a just summary of Sumner's character. 



ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY. 

A NDREW PRESTON PEABODY was born in 
Beverly, Mass., March 19, 181 1, and died in 
Cambridge, Mass., March 10, 1893. His father was 
a man of liberal education, and gave every oppor- 
tunity to the precocious boy. He passed the exam- 
ination for Harvard College at the age of twelve, but 
spent another year under private tuition to such good 
purpose that he entered as junior at thirteen, and was 
graduated at fifteen, — one of the youngest that ever 
finished the course. He spent three years in teach- 
ing, and then entered the Harvard Divinity School. 
After graduating, he was mathematical tutor for a 
year, and was then settled as pastor of a church in 
Portsmouth, N. H., where he remained for twenty- 
seven years. During this period he wrote many 



1 82 ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY. 

books and articles, and was editor of the " North 
American Review." 

In i860, Dr. Peabody left Portsmouth to become 
Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in Harvard 
College, — a chair which had been founded at his 
suggestion, for the moral and religious instruction 
of students. His relations with the students were 
intimate and tender, and probably no member of the 
faculty exerted a more positive and salutary influ- 
ence. As preacher to the University he was catholic 
in spirit, wholly without bigotry, and respected by 
men of every shade of belief. He resigned in 1881, 
but was kept on the roll as professor emeritus. 

Dr. Peabody's publications are very numerous, and 
a list of them will hardly be necessary. Many of 
them are special memoirs, occasional sermons, and 
other professional works. But his power, style, and 
taste were shown in everything he wrote; his sen- 
tences are pure and luminous, and pervaded by the 
charm of goodness and graciousness. Among his 
principal works may be named " Lectures on Chris- 
tian Doctrine" (1844); "Sermons of Consolation" 
(1847); ''Conversation: Its Faults and its Graces " 
(1856); ''Christianity the Religion of Nature" (1864); 
" Reminiscences of European Travel" (1868) ; " Chris- 
tianity and Science " (1874); "Christian Belief and 
Life" (1875); "Harvard Reminiscences" (1888). 
His "Lectures on Moral Philosophy" (1873) and 
on "Christian Morals" (1886) were marked by 
breadth of view, critical discrimination, and fulness 
of illustration. 



JOHN WILLIAM DRArER. 1 83 

Few lives of such length have been filled with such 
constant and effective labor, or crowned with such 
noble results. It will be remembered that besides the 
published volumes, Dr. Peabody wrote an exceeding 
great number of essays and reviews for leading peri- 
odicals, organs of public opinion, and in that way had 
a great influence over his generation. He w^as also 
prominent in the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
in whose rooms may be seen his portrait. 



JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER. 

JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER was born in Liver- 
pool, England, May 5, 1811, and was educated 
at London University. He came to the United 
States in 1833, and pursued his studies in chemistry 
and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He 
was professor at Hampden and Sidney College from 
1836 to 1839, and afterward at the University of 
New York, — first in the academical, and then in the 
medical department. Dr. Draper was a man of great 
learning, and wrote many important works. In 1850 
he became president of the Medical College of the 
University of New York, where he delivered lectures 
until 1 88 1. 

Following is a list of this author's principal Works : 
" The Forces which Produce the Organization of 
Plants" (1844); "Text-Book of Chemistry" (1846); 



1 84 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 

*' Production of Light and Heat" (1847); *' Produc- 
tion of Light by Chemical Action" (1848) ; " Human 
Physiology" (1856); '* History of the Intellectual 
Development of Europe" (1862); "Thoughts on the 
Future Civil Policy of America" (1864); "A Text- 
book on Physiology " (1866) ; " History of the Am- 
erican Civil War," 3 vols. (1867-70) ; " Researches in 
Actino-Chemistry " (1872); " History of the Conflict 
between Religion and Science" (1874); " Scientific 
Memoirs" (National Academy of Sciences), being 
contributions to the " Biographical Memoirs." 

It will be seen that Dr. Draper did not confine 
himself to scientific study. " The Intellectual De- 
velopment of Europe" is an able work, having some 
resemblances to the treatises of Buckle and Lecky. 
"The History of the Civil War" is also highly es- 
teemed, though in a measure superseded by the many 
later military memoirs. His style is sententious and 
dignified; his Works are read for their ideas, and 
command respect from all thoughtful men. He died 
January 4, 1882, 



HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 

ARRIET BEECHER STOWE, daughter of Dr. 
Lyman Beecher, a distinguished clergyman, was 
born in Litchfield, Conn., June 15, 1812. She re- 
moved to Cincinnati with her father in 1833, where 
she was married, in 1836, to the Rev. Calvin E. Stowe, 



H 



HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 1 85 

afterward professor at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, 
Maine, and at Andover Theological School 

Mrs. Stowe wrote several stories and sketches for 
the Cincinnati "Gazette" and other periodicals, 
which were in 1846 collected in a volume entitled 
'•The Mayflower." In 1851, at Brunswick, she be- 
gan the story of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," in weekly 
chapters, in a newspaper published in Washington, 
called the " National Era." On its completion, it ap- 
peared in two volumes, i2mo, in Boston. Its suc- 
cess was without a parallel, up to that time, in the lit- 
erature of any age. Near half a milHon copies were 
sold in this country, and a considerably larger num- 
ber in England. It was translated into every language 
of Europe, and into Arabic and Armenian. It was 
dramatized and acted in nearly every theatre in the 
world. " The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin " appeared 
in 1853. The same year the author visited Europe, 
and was received with gratifying attention. On her 
return she published " Sunny Memories of Foreign 
Lands," two volumes, i2mo. *' Dred: A Tale of the 
Great Dismal Swamp," was published in 1 856. This 
work is very able, but it produced less impression 
because the charm of novelty in the subject was 
wanting ; the character of Dred himself is more 
grand and picturesque than that of Uncle Tom. 
"The Minister's Wooing" appeared first in the 
"Atlantic Monthly" as a serial, and was published 
in book form in 1859. We think this the most de- 
lightful of her stories. The scene is laid in Newport, 
in the last century, and the characters (excepting 



1 86 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 

Aaron Burr) are among her finest creations. *' Agnes 
of Sorrento " and '' The Pearl of Orr's Island " were 
published in 1862; "House and Home Papers" 
(1864); "The Chimney Corner," a series from 
the "Atlantic" (1865), "Little Foxes" (1865); 
" Queer Little People " (1867) ; " Men of our Times " 
(1867); "Oldtown Folks" (1869); " Oldtown Fire- 
side Stories" (1870); "Pink and White Tyranny " 
(1871); "My Wife and L' (1872); "We and Our 
Neighbors," a sequel to "My Wife and L' (1873) ; 
"Palmetto Leaves" (1873), being letters from her 
new home in Florida, where she passed many winters 
after the resignation of her husband as professor 
at Andover; "Women in Sacred History" (1873); 
and " Poganuc People" (1878), reminiscences of 
her early life in Litchfield, Conn. She also printed 
the "True Story of Lady Byron's Life" (1870), 
which perhaps was not true, and, in any case, should 
not have been told. When she became feeble with 
age, she took up her abode in Hartford, Conn., where 
her son and biographer is a leading clergyman. 

It will be seen that Mrs. Stowe has been a very pro- 
lific writer, and although her fame will rest upon her 
first great book, all of her novels have some admir- 
able qualities, and several of them have enough merit 
in themselves to have given her a place among our 
first authors of fiction. She is a novelist of rare 
and original. genius. She is indebted to no special 
culture and to no careful practice for her efi"ects. In 
attention to the niceties of the language she is sur- 
passed by many writers of an inferior rank. Her 



CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH. 18/ 

descriptions of persons and of scenes are like the 
etchings of the old masters : the method is full of 
details, and the process could not be imparted ; but 
at due distance the effect is magical, the cartoon 
priceless and immortal. 

Probably our great national struggle, then impend- 
ing (although we did not know it), intensified the pub- 
lic interest in " Uncle Tom's Cabin " and its momen- 
tous lessons ; but in itself it is a great story. The 
characters are powerfully drawn, and the plot is con- 
structed with skill. The figures of the prim Miss 
Ophelia, of the indescribable Aunt Dinah, and of the 
great-souled Uncle Tom are masterpieces in fiction. 
The future historian of the United States, in mention- 
ing the causes that led to the overthrow of slavery, 
must give much of the credit to the author of the 
drama in which the results of the system were ex- 
hibited to the world. 



CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH. 

pHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH was born 
^-^ in Alexandria, Va., March 8, 1813, and was 
graduated at Columbia College, Washington, in 1832. 
He studied divinity at the Cambridge Theological 
School, but soon relinquished the clerical profession 
and became a landscape painter. He was one of the 
contributors to the " Dial " (conducted by Margaret 
Fuller, George Ripley, and Mr. Emerson), and pub- 



l88 CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH. 

lished in it some of his most striking verses. In 1840 
he wrote a poem on the two hundredth anniversary 
of the settlement of Ouincy, Mass. A small volume 
of his poems was published in 1844; one of these, 
entitled '' Gnosis," is remarkable for its subtilty of 
thought. In 1847 he visited Europe, and resided 
abroad, mostly in Paris, for over ten years. He wrote 
and illustrated two juvenile books of a fanciful char- 
acter, entitled "The Last of the Huggermuggers " 
(1856), and "Kobboltozo" (1857). "The Bird and 
the Bell " is the title of a book of poems published 
in 1875. He made a poetical translation of Virgil, 
published in 1879. "Ariel and Caliban, and Other 
Poems," appeared in 1887. He published in 1890 
his Reminiscences of Browning. 

Mr. Cranch's poems are always interesting and 
suggestive, covering a wide range of topics, and care- 
fully wrought. His acquaintance with art and with 
general literature is felt in all his works. He has a 
fine sense of nmsic, and has written some striking 
pieces upon the characteristics of leading instru- 
ments. It is doubtful if any American poet has pro- 
duced sonnets finer than his. In tone, feeling, and 
melody they are exquisite, — although it must be ad- 
mitted that the one entitled " Morning " bears a rather 
dangerous resemblance to one of Shakespeare's. 
But the sonnet, though so rare a product and de- 
manding such perfect structure and finish, awakens 
little enthusiasm in ordinary readers. Mr. Cranch 
had the high esteem of poets and of competent critics, 
but not any extended popularity. He died in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., January 187 1892. 



HENRY WARD BEECHER. 1 89 



HENRY WARD BEECHER. 

LJENRY WARD BEECHER was born in Litch- 
field, Conn., June 24, 18 13, and was graduated 
at Amherst College in 1834. He studied theology 
under the instruction of his father, at Lane Seminary 
near Cincinnati, and was settled as a preacher first at 
Lawrenceburg, Ind., and afterward at Indianapolis. 
In 1847 ^^^ remov^ed to Brooklyn, N. Y., and became 
pastor of the Plymouth Church. His Works were 
mostly the fruit of his regular labors as a preacher, 
and as a contributor to religious periodicals. He 
wrote for the New York ''Independent" a series of 
articles, published in two volumes, under the title of 
" Star Papers." " Notes from Plymouth Pulpit " was 
a regular report of his sermons. " Life Thoughts " 
is a collection of passages from his extemporaneous 
discourses, taken down in short-hand by the poet, 
Edna Dean Proctor. 

Besides the above named there were published 
''Lectures to Young Men" (1844); "Oration on 
Robert Burns" (1859). In 1863 Mr. Beecher de- 
livered addresses in London and other large cities 
in Great Britain, which were published as " Speeches 
on the American Rebellion," " Freedom and War," 
and "Discourses Suggested by the Times" (1863). 
"Aids to Prayer" appeared in (1864); "Oration 
at Fort Sumter" (1865); "Norwood; Or, Village 
Life in New England" (1866); Parts of a " Life of 



1 90 HENRY WARD BEECHER. 

Christ," unfinished (1869-1871); ''Lecture Room 
Talks" (1870); "Yale Lectures on Preaching," 3 
vols. (1872-1874); "A Summer Parish: Sermons 
and Morning Service" (1874) ; "The Army of the 
Republic" (1878); "The Strike and its Lessons" 
(1878); "Doctrinal Beliefs and Unbeliefs" (1882); 
"Commemorative Discourse on Wendell Phillips" 
(1884); "A Circuit of the Continent" (1884); "Evo- 
lution and Religion" (1885). 

Mr. Beecher was a natural orator, and whether on 
the public platform, at the desk of the lecturer, or in 
his own pulpit, he exercised an absolute sway over 
the feelings of his audience. His sense of humor was 
acute, so that even the periods of his sermons were 
sometimes rounded with smiles. His illustrations, 
like those of all great teachers from Plato to Emer- 
son, were drawn from homely subjects, but they 
flashed on the understanding, and touched the heart 
with irresistible force. His enthusiasm was mag- 
netic; the speaker and the hearer were moved by 
a simultaneous impulse, — the one to say his noblest 
things, and the other to follow with a lively appre- 
hension. It was while on the wing, as it were, that 
Mr. Beecher gave proof of his imaginative power. 
Then it was that his figures came clothed in perfect 
grace, and his language had a natural felicity. We 
doubt if so many apophthegms, so many exquisite 
poetic images, as are contained in " Life Thoughts " 
could be gathered from any volume of sermons with- 
out going back to Jeremy Taylor, At the same time 
we doubt whether Mr. Beecher could have written 



HENRY WARD BEECHER. IQI 

those same glowing sentences beforehand ; the 
ideas were his, but were born only when the subject 
and the time called them into life. His published 
sermons are thoughtful, instructive, and full of in- 
genious illustrations ; their method shows careful 
study, but their brilliant passages are as unpremedi- 
tated as lightning strokes. 

In fiction Mr. Beecher did not gain much reputa- 
tion, nor was he especially successful as an essayist ; 
the mastery of a finished and graceful style is not to 
be carried by assault, like a redoubt, and his pressing 
duties left him small time for what he would probably 
have termed the arts of the literary pharisee. But it 
was impossible for such a man to be dull, or other- 
wise than interesting ; and while his wonderful fervor 
as a speaker remained, it was too much to ask that 
he should carry the same fire into his closet. 

About the year 1870 Mr. Beecher was tried upon 
a charge affecting his character as a man and a Chris- 
tian minister ; and though he was not found guilty, 
the circumstance left a most painful impression upon 
the public mind, and greatly impaired his influence. 
He died March 8, 188;. 



192 JOHN SULLIVAN D WIGHT. 



JOHN SULLIVAN DWIGHT. 

TOHN SULLIVAN DWIGHT was born in Boston, 
May 13, 1 813, and was graduated at Harvard 
College in 1832. He studied at the Cambridge 
Theological School, completing his course in 1836, 
and preached for about six years. He was settled 
in Northampton in 1840. He translated, about that 
time, the ** Select Minor Poems " of Goethe and 
of Schiller, which were published as a volume in 
Ripley's " Specimens of Foreign Literature." He 
contributed reviews of Tennyson, Spenser, and other 
authors to the " Christian Examiner." He wrote a 
course of lectures upon Bach, Handel, Haydn, 
Mozart, Beethoven, and their successors, which were 
delivered in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. 
He was a contributor to the " Dial," and afterward to 
the "Harbinger." He joined the Brook Farm Asso- 
ciation in 1842, and remained there, teaching litera- 
ture and music, and working on the farm, until the 
Association disbanded. 

It will be remembered that about thirty years ago 
a number of the most intellectual people of Boston 
and vicinity, — among them George Ripley, George 
W. Curtis, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, — purchased a 
farm in West Roxbury, and lived in a community, do- 
ing the necessary labor with their own hands, and 
endeavoring to show the world a better mode of life 
by combining their efforts both in practical affairs 
and in their mental and moral culture. It was a 



JOHN SULLIVAN DWIGIIT. . 193 

sincere and noble effort, though unsuccessful. Their 
pure and bhimeless Hves, and their aspirations for 
the good of the race, are not to be thought of in 
connection with certain developments of sociahsm, 
and the shameless doctrines of certain social re- 
formers. Some views of the interior workings of the 
experiment may be seen in Hawthorne's *' Blithedale 
Romance." 

Mr. Dwight in 1852 established the " Musical Jour- 
nal " which bore his name. The volumes of this peri- 
odical contain an invaluable collection of the literature 
of music and art. Mr. Dwight is one of the officers 
and a leading spirit in the Harvard Musical Associa- 
tion of Boston ; and it is to this Association that the 
city was indebted for the annual series of symphony 
concerts, and for the beautiful Music Hall, with its 
exquisite statue of Beethoven. 

Mr. Dwight holds a high place among writers. 
He is an upholder of the severe classical school, and 
often runs counter to popular tastes ; but no one 
doubts the sincerity of his convictions, or that the 
end he aims at is the elevation of the art and the 
maintenance of a pure standard of beauty amid all 
the capricious changes of musical fashion. 



13 



194 - CHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS. 



CHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS. 

pHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS was promi- 
^^ nent among tho scholars who fifty years ago 
brought the before unknown weaUh of German 
poetry to the knowledge of English readers. The 
benefits conferred upon our people by those pioneer 
translators have been felt by authors and readers 
alike. It is impossible to overestimate the value of 
the service rendered. 

Mr. Brooks was born in Salem, Mass., June 20, 
1813, and died in Newport, R. I., June 14, 1883. ^'^e 
was graduated at Harvard College in 1832, and was 
settled as a Unitarian minister in Nahant, Mass., 
and afterward in Newport, R. I. 

The most important of his translations were 
Goethe's " Faust," in the original metres ; Schiller's 
'' William Tell " and " Homage of the Arts," " Songs 
and Ballads," " German Lyrics," and Richter's 
colossal but almost forgotten novels, " Titan " and 
" Hesperus." But though his translations were nu- 
merous, and among the best in existence, he showed 
his ability as an original poet in several volumes of 
more than ordinary excellence. " Aquidneck " was 
written for the hundredth anniversary of the Red- 
wood Library at Newport. " Songs of Field and 
Flood" was published in Boston in 1854. 

A collection of Mr. Brooks's poems, with a memoir, 
was published by Rev. C. W. Wendte. 



SYLVESTER JUDD. 1 95 



SYLVESTER JUDD. 

C YLVESTER JUDD was born in VVesthampton, 
*^ Mass., July 23, 181 3. He was graduated at 
Yale College in 1836, and studied theology at the 
Cambridge School. He was ordained as pastor of a 
church in Augusta, Me., in 1840, and remained there 
until his death, which occurred January 20, 1853. 

Mr. Judd was a strong advocate of peace and of 
temperance, and an opponent of slavery and of 
capital punishment. His religious doctrines were 
inwoven with his life, and his works are but the 
various modes of expression of his cherished princi- 
ples. His first published work is entitled " Mar- 
garet: A Tale of the Real and the Ideal, of Blight 
and Bloom." In this singular and powerful fiction 
the reader is introduced to a New England town as 
it was at the beginning of this century. The simple 
manners, the rustic festivals, the mode of worship, 
and the prevailing intemperance of the period are 
draw^n with absolute fidelity. The author's earnest 
purpose is somewhat too evident for a well-rounded 
work of art, and the movement of the story is not at 
all what novel-readers expect ; but no one, in our 
judgment, has more perfectly painted the aspects of 
Nature in New England, or has more clearly revealed 
the inner life of the people at a time of a great im- 
pending transition. The author had a boundless 
wealth of materials, but his sense of form was de- 
ficient; the scenes are not placed in symmetrical 



196 SYLVESTER JUDD. 

order, and there is a want of proportion in the 
various parts. These are fatal obstacles to the 
general popularity of the book. Still, the genius of 
the author shines throughout the sad story. Its 
vivid woodland scenes, and its strong, homely char- 
acters, contrasting with the spiritual beauty of its 
heroine, could hardly have been better done for us 
even by Hawthorne's pencil. " Margaret " appeared 
in 1845. ^ i^^w edition was published in 1851, and 
in 1856 it was illustrated by Darley in a series of 
drawings that did honor to American art. " Philo: 
An Evangeliad," a religious poem, appeared in 1850, 
and *' Richard Edney," a romance, in the same year. 
A posthumous work entitled " The Church, in a 
Series of Discourses," was published in 1854. His 
life, written by Miss Arethusa Hall, was also pub- 
lished the same year. 

Mr. Judd was a single-hearted, sincere, and fervent 
minister, and his life was without any striking events. 
But his work will preserve his memory ; in every 
generation there will be those who will recognize and 
do honor to his genius. In Lowell's "Fable for 
Critics " there is a striking passage upon Judd's 
*' Margaret" 



HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN. 19/ 



HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN. 

HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN was born 
in Boston, April 20, 1813. He was educated 
in the public schools, and went abroad in his twenti- 
eth year. Travel and observation, with private read- 
ing and study, supplied the place of university 
training. He removed from Boston to New York in 
1845, where he resided until his death, which occurred 
December 17, 1871. Mr. Tuckerman was an inde- 
fatigable and voluminous writer; very few authors 
have put so much on paper or In print. He pub- 
lished a volume of poems, which show a cultivated 
taste and considerable poetic feeling; he also wrote 
several memoirs and biographies. But his chief em- 
ployment was that of essayist, literary and art critic, 
and narrator of the lighter incidents of travel. His 
appreciative feeling, good taste, and long practice 
gave him the skill, and his pleasant habit of observa- 
tion and retentive memory furnished the materials. 
He never probed a subject deeply, never developed 
principles, except very obvious ones, was never 
strongly graphic in description nor keen in analysis; 
but the stream of his prose ran smoothly on until the 
salient points of his theme were pleasantly touched 
upon, and its associations were gracefully hinted at ; 
and the reader, without fatigue, closed the book with 
the thought that he had spent an hour with more or 
less profit in the company of an amiable, well-in- 
formed, and well-bred man of the world. 



198 HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN. 

The reader will infer that such an author docs not 
belong to the class of original creators of literature. 
But these critical writers have their well-established 
places and their duties in the kingdom of letters. 
The list of Mr. Tuckcrman's Works will show 
the amount and kind of service he performed: 
"The Italian Sketch Book " (1835); "Isabel; Or, 
Sicily: A Pilgrimage" (1839); "Rambles and 
Reviews" (1841) ; "Thoughts on the Poets" 
(1846) ; " Characteristics of Literature " (1849-51) ; 
" Sketch of American Literature," " Mental Portraits; 
Or, Studies of Character," " Life of Commodore Silas 
Talbot" (1850); "The Optimist" ('1850); "Poems" 
(185 1); "A Month in England" (1853); "A Me- 
morial of Horatio Greenough " (1853); "Leaves 
from the Diary of a Dreamer " (1853) ; " Biographi- 
cal Essays" (1857); "Essay on Washington" 
(1859); "A Sheaf of Verse " (1864); "America 
and her Commentators," with a " Critical Sketch of 
Travel in the United States" (1864); "The Crite- 
rion "(1866); "Book of the Artists "(1867); " Maga 
Papers about Paris" (1867); "Artist-Life; Or, 
Sketches of American Painters," " Life of J. P. 
Kennedy" (1871). 



EPES SARGENT. IQQ 



EPES SARGENT. 



EPES SARGENT belonged to a family that was 
distinguished for ability, and he shared their com- 
mon inheritance. He was born in Gloucester, Mass., 
September 27, 1813, and died in Boston, December 31, 
i83o. His education was mainly acquired in the Bos- 
ton Latin School ; he entered Harvard College, but 
did not complete the course. He was, as a litterateur, 
an " all-round man," capable of doing many things 
well ; possessed of general knowledge, unfailing taste, 
and a smooth, perspicuous style; a leader among 
writers, but not a man of genius, nor distinguished 
as the author of any great book. The literary 
world has need of such accomplished and indus- 
trious writers, and could often better spare more 
brilliant men. 

Much of Mr. Sargent's work was done for the 
"Advertiser," "Atlas," and ''Transcript" of Boston, 
and for the " Mirror " of New York. He was the 
author of several plays which were performed with 
success. He and George H. Boker were among the 
last authors of dramas which can be included in liter- 
ature, being formed upon classic models, and per- 
vaded by the poetic spirit. What constitutes a suc- 
cessful drama of later days it is scarcely necessary 
to state. Among his plays may be named " The 
Bride of Genoa," "Change makes Change," '' Ve- 
lasco," and " The Priestess," the latter founded upon 
the libretto of " Norma." 



200 EPES SARGENT. 

Mr. Sargent's chief labors were editorial. Being a 
critic of judgment and taste he superintended the 
issue of the Works of several English poets, and wrote 
their Lives. The list includes Campbell, Collins, Gray, 
Goldsmith, Rogers, Horace and James Smith, and 
Hood. His memoirs and annotations were uniformly 
excellent, and his editions will always be valued. He 
made an admirable selection of the Works of Franklin, 
including the Autobiography, and wrote a Life. It is 
the best popular work upon our great philosopher, 
and is so well done that it leaves little room for any 
future editor. He wrote a number of novels and 
tales, some of them for the young. Among them 
are " Wealth and Worth," " What's to be Done?" and 
" Fleetwood ; Or, The Stain of a Birth." The most 
fortunate of his stories was " Peculiar," the name of 
an original and masterly-drawn character, a negro in 
the South, who was involved in the whirling eddies of 
the Civil War. His " School Readers " were long 
popular; but among educational works, no matter 
how perfect, the only thing certain is change. He 
wrote a " Life of Henry Clay," which was pronounced 
the best in existence by no less an authority than 
that of the illustrious subject. He edited " The 
Modern Drama" (fifteen volumes), and compiled a 
" Cyclopedia of English and American Poetry." He 
compiled and edited two volumes entitled '* Ameri- 
can Adventure by Land and Sea," and ** Arctic 
Adventure by Sea and Land." 

Unquestionably the nearest to Mr. Sargent's heart 
was his ambition to be recognized as a poet. He toiled 



JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. 201 

over editions and collections for a livelihood, but poe- 
try was the angel in his breast, and in his verse is to 
be seen his aspiration and joy. Some of his spirited 
lyrics have become familiar as household words, 
such as " A Life on the Ocean Wave," and " O ye 
Keen Breezes from the Salt Atlantic ! " but his 
three volumes of' poems {1847, 1858, 1869,) though 
they gained for him a creditable position, did not 
manifest in any marked degree the high and rare 
qualities which give permanence to verse. 

To give a full record of Mr. Sargent's work would 
require much space ; and in some cases it might be 
difficult to ascertain what he did. For instance, he 
wrote several of the famous " Peter Parley" books 
which that enterprising manager, S. G. Goodrich, 
adopted as his own. 

Few writers have done better service than Epes 
Sargent. He concerned himself with subjects of 
permanent interest, and brought to his task a full 
mind, sound judgment, and refined taste. 



JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. 

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY was born in Dor- 
•J Chester, Mass., April 15, 18 14. He was gradu- 
ated at Harvard College in 183 1, and then spent two 
years in German universities, and afterward some 
time in travel. On his return he studied law, and was 



202 JOHN LOTIIROP MOTLEY. 

admitted to the bar in Boston (1836), but soon 
quitted the profession. In 1839 he pubhshed a novel 
entitled " Morton's Hope." In 1840 he was appointed 
secretary of legation to the American embassy at 
St. Petersburg, which place he held only for a short 
time. In 1849 he published a second historical novel 
entitled ''Merry Mount: A Romance of the Massa- 
chusetts Colony." He contributed several admirable 
historical and critical papers to the reviews. Be- 
coming interested in the history of Holland, he 
began a work on the subject, and in 185 1 went 
abroad to gather fuller materials. He passed five 
years in the chief capitals of Europe in his re- 
searches, and in 1856 published in London "The 
Rise of the Dutch Republic." This work gave him 
a high place among historians. It was reprinted in 
New York, and translations of it appeared in Holland, 
Germany, and France, — the French translation being 
introduced by Guizot. 

Mr. Motley returned to this country in 1857, and 
was one of the company of authors by whom the 
" Atlantic Monthly " was established. He began 
anew his studies for a continuation of his history, 
but soon found that the necessary books and manu- 
scripts must be studied in Europe. Accordingly he 
again went abroad, and made the most thorough 
examination of the collections of State papers at 
Brussels, securing also full copies from the Spanish 
archives of Simancas, and an immense mass of Eng- 
lish correspondence never before made public. He 
continued his studies with equal success at Venice, 



JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. 203 

Paris, and other places. The first part of his work, 
"The History of the United Netherlands," appeared 
in two volumes in 1861, and the remaining part, in two 
volumes also, in 1868. The history of Holland dur- 
ing the period treated by Mr. Motley is the history 
of European liberty. Every nation was in some way 
concerned in the great struggle between Spain and 
the Netherlands. The characters of Philip H., of 
his great minister Cardinal Granvelle, of his sister 
Margaret of Parma, and of his great general the 
infamous Duke of Alva, as well as the principles and 
policy of the Spanish government, are painted in the 
strongest colors. English history also has a new 
illumination from this work, and the reader will 
probably get a more vivid and accurate conception 
of the vain and vacillating Queen Elizabeth, of the 
unprincipled Earl of Leicester, of Lord Burleigh, 
Walsingham, Drake, and other prominent persons of 
the period than can be gained from any other source. 
Of famous Hollanders and Flemings the historian has 
made a national portrait gallery. 

The execution of this work is in keeping with the 
grandeur of the subject. The immense mass of 
details which would fatally encumber an inferior 
writer are grouped with a view to their collective 
efifect; and we are enabled to follow, as in a romance, 
the popular leaders — heroes and martyrs both — 
in their long and desperate struggle against the in- 
trigues of ecclesiastics, the brutality of a fanatical 
soldiery, and the selfish craft of kings. Motley is 
fond of portraying scenes of magnificence, and of 



204 JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. 

marshalling events in dramatic order. His style of 
narration is vivid, but sometimes overcharged. His 
honorable sympathy with free principles, and his 
hatred of oppression and wrong tend to disturb the 
philosophic repose of style. He makes a keen analy- 
sis of character, but there is a redundancy, or rather 
a repetition, especially in the descriptions of William 
of Orange, and in the moral reflections occurring at 
great crises. But in spite of minor faults his History 
is as near to being great as any yet written in this 
country. 

" The Life of John Barneveld " was published in 
1874. This is less a biography than a history of 
events that preceded the Thirty Years' War. 

Motley was appointed minister to Austria in 1866, 
and was recalled in 1867. He was minister to Eng- 
land from April, 1869, to November, 1870, when he 
was displaced. He felt keenly the rude and, as 
he thought, unjust treatment he received from our 
government; and it is pretty well established that 
his enforced resignation of the English mission was 
due to the friendship between him and Charles 
Sumner, who was then furiously at variance with 
the President. 

Motley was intimate with leading writers in the 
United States as well as in England and on the Con- 
tinent. His talents and accomplishments placed him 
among the" picked men of countries." Distinguished 
honors were everywhere paid him, especially in Hol- 
land, whose annals he had illustrated. He died May 
29, 1877. His intimate friend, Oliver W^endell Holmes, 



GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS. 205 

wrote a sketch of his life, 1879. Two large volumes 
of his correspondence appeared in 1889, edited by 
George William Curtis. These letters fully show his 
earnest labors, his friendships and social life, his gen- 
erous heart, and the passionate feeling of patriotism 
which possessed him. Two topics stand out promi- 
nently in the volumes, — his cordial relations with 
Bismarck, who had been his fellow-student ; and his 
all-absorbing interest in the cause of the Union 
during our Civil War. Many of the letters rise to 
the height of eloquence, and altogether they form a 
worthy memorial of one of the noblest men of our 
time. 

The visitor to The Hague finds agreeable memories 
of Motley. At the queen's Palace in the Wood are 
shown the rooms he occupied by her invitation while 
engaged in his labors; and in one of them is his 
portrait. 



GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS. 

r^ EORGE EDWARD ELLIS was born in Boston, 
^^ August 8, 1 8 14. He was graduated at Harvard 
College in 1833, and afterward studied divinity. He 
was settled as pastor of the Harvard Unitarian Church 
in Charlestown in 1840, and was professor in Harvard 
Divinity School from 1857 to 1863. He delivered 
many courses of lectures before the Lowell Institute. 
He edited the " Christian Register," also the " Chris- 



206 GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS. 

tian Examiner," for several years. He was a thorough 
and enthusiastic student of early American history, 
and in respect to the beginnings of Massachusetts, — 
its laws, customs, and policy, — became, probably, the 
most eminent authority. He seemed to carry an 
antiquarian library in his brain. A lifetime of such 
painstaking study, supplemented by a philosophic 
grasp of principles, and by a style of remarkable 
luminousness and force, made him one of the fore- 
most of historical writers. He received the degrees 
of D. D. and LL. D. ; was an overseer of Harvard 
College, and President of the Massachusetts Histori- 
cal Society. 

Dr. Ellis contributed to Sparks's " American Biogra- 
phy" a Life of John Mason (1844), of Anne Hutchinson 
(1845), and of William Penn (1847). He published 
in 1857 "A Half-Century of the Unitarian Contro- 
versy; " in 1863, a " Memoir of Dr. Luther V. Bell; " 
in 1869, " The Aims and Purposes of the Founders of 
Massachusetts." He wrote a memoir of Jared Sparks 
in 1869, and a Life of Benjamin Thompson (Count 
Rumford) in 1871 ; a " History of the Massachusetts 
General Hospital" (1872) ; a '' History of the Battle 
of Bunker Hill" (1875) ; an "Account of the Siege 
of Boston: An Address upon the Centennial of the 
Evacuation by the British Army" (1876) ; and several 
memoirs of prominent men in Eastern Massachusetts. 
He wrote three chapters in the " Memorial History 
of Boston," and six in the " Narrative and Critical 
History of America." He edited the three volumes 
of Sewall's Journal for the Historical Society. In 



RICHARD HENRY DANA, JR. 207 

1882 he published an important work entitled ''The 
Red Man and the White Man in North America;" 
in 1884, an " Address at the Unveiling of the Statue 
of John Harvard; " in 1888, a volume entitled " The 
Puritan Age and Rule in the Colony of Massachusetts 
Bay ; " in 1892, an address upon " The History of the 
Earth as told in Museums and Libraries." This last 
is a remarkable view of the accumulated knowledge 
of the world, and is full of suggestive thought, with 
occasional prophetic vistas. 

This ample record is evidence of a long and active 
life, spent for the advancement of learning and for 
the benefit of mankind. 



R 



RICHARD HENRY DANA, Jr. 

ICHARD HENRY DANA, Jr., son of the poet, 
was born in Cambridge, Mass., August I, 181 5, 
and was graduated at Harvard College in 1837. In 
1834, while in college, he suffered from an affection 
of the eyes, and left his studies for a sea voyage. He 
shipped as a common sailor in a vessel bound for 
California, then an unsettled country, and on his 
return published his experience in a book entitled 
"Two Years Before the Mast." This had a large 
circulation both in England and America for more 
than thirty years, and became almost as popular as 



208 RICHARD HENRY DANA, JR. 

" Robinson Crusoe." His next book, ** The Seaman's 
Friend," appeared in 1841. He was admitted to the 
bar in Boston in 1840, and took a leading position, 
especially in admiralty cases. He was a leading 
advocate of the Free Soil party, but never held pub- 
lic office, except that he was United States District 
Attorney from 1861 to 1866. Though possessed of 
eminent ability and knowledge, he had none of the 
arts of gaining popularity; his reserve and dignity 
were imputed to haughtiness, and the way to official 
station was always barred. He was beaten by 
General Butler in a contest for a seat in Congress, 
and was rejected by the United States Senate when 
nominated by the President as Minister to Great 
Britain. He was a member of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, and took a prominent part in the con- 
ventions of that body. In 1859 he published "To 
Cuba and Back," the result of a vacation tour. 
Later he became interested in the subject of inter- 
national law, and began a treatise upon it. In the 
course of his studies he found it desirable to go 
abroad, and established himself in Rome, where he 
contracted a malarious fever, and died January 7, 
18S2. His work on International Law was unfinished, 
but he had edited a treatise by Wheaton on that sub- 
ject, which was published in i865. He was a con- 
tributor to the " North American Review," the '' Law 
Register," and the " American Law Review." He 
published also biographical sketches of Washington 
Allston, and of Prof. Edward Channine- 



JOHN GODFREY SAXE. 209 



JOHN GODFREY SAXE. 

TOHN GODFREY SAXE was born in Highgate, 
^ Vt., June 2, 18 16, and was graduated at Middle- 
bury College in 1839. He studied law, and after his 
admission to the bar in 1843 remained in practice till 
1850, when he removed to Burlington, vv^here for five 
years he was editor of the '' Sentinel." At that time 
he withdrew from his profession, and devoted himself 
to lecturing and authorship. He was afterward editor 
of the " Evening Journal " at Albany, N. Y. His 
first volume, entitled " Progress: A Satire, and Other 
Poems," was pubhshed in 1846; " New Rape of the 
Lock " (1847) ; " The Proud Miss McBride " (1848) ; 
"The Times" (1849); "The Money King, etc." 
(1859); "Clever Stories of Many Nations" (1864); 
" The Masqueraders "(1866); *' Fables and Legends 
in Rhyme" (1872); ''Complete Edition of Poems" 
(1874); "Leisure Day Rhymes" (1875). 

Mr. Saxe wrote with facility, was intent mainly on 
jests and epigrams, and amused himself and his read- 
ers by clever hits at the fashions and follies of the 
time. His good-natured satire did not cleave to the 
depths, nor was his humor of that quality which 
reaches to the sources of feeling, and which gives us 
the surprises of an April day ; but he was level with 
the popular apprehension, and made his name more 
familiarly known, In his generation, than that of any 
other of our comic versifiers. 



14 



2IO TARKE GODWIN. 

Mr. Saxe's faculties failed some time before his 
death, which occurred, March 31, 1887. 



PARKE GODWIN. 

DAKKE GODWIN was born in Paterson, N. J., 
P'ebruary 25, 1816. He was graduated at 
Princeton College in 1834, and studied law in his 
native town, but did not practise the profession. He 
married a daughter of the poet Bryant, and was 
long associated with his father-in-law in conducting 
the "Evening Post," of New York. In 1843 he 
began the issue of a weekly periodical, entitled 
** The Pathfinder," in which he displayed great abil- 
ity ; but the enterprise came to an end in three 
months on account of the failure of the publisher.. 
He was a frequent contributor to the " Democratic 
Review," was for some time editor of " Putnam's 
Monthly," and was the author of many of the able 
political articles that appeared in the early numbers 
of the " Atlantic Monthly." He translated the tales 
of Zschokke, and a part of Goethe's Autobiography. 
He is the author of a "Popular View of the Doctrines 
of Fourier" (1844); "Constructive Democracy" 
(185 1); and " Vala," founded on incidents in the 
life of Jenny Lind (185 1). He began a History 
of France, of which the first volume appeared in 
i860. A collection of his "Political Essays" was 



ROBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL. 211 

printed in 1856, and a series of critical and literary 
papers, entitled " Out of the Past," in 1870. He 
edited " Bryant's Writings, with a Life," six volumes, 
(1863-64), and also a " Handbook of Universal Biog- 
raphy" (1871). 

Mr. Godwin has been an earnest and successful 
essayist, and has done much to guide public opinion 
in the weighty affairs of government. He is always 
clear in argument, and commands the thoughtful 
attention and respect of his readers. 



ROBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL. 

nOBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL was 
born in Boston, October 9, 18 16, — the son of 
Rev. Dr. Charles Lowell of the West Church, and a 
brother of James Russell Lowell. In his seventh year 
he was sent to the famous school at Round Hill, North- 
ampton, Mass., and in his thirteenth entered Harvard 
College, graduating in 1833. He then entered the 
medical school, and completed a full course of study. 
But in 1839 a change came over him, and he went to 
Schenectady, N. Y., to study theology under the 
direction of Bishop Potter of the P:piscopal Church. 
In 1842, after ordination, he became domestic chap- 
lain to the Bishop of Newfoundland and Jamaica ; 
but afterward, desiring active employment, he was 
sent as rector to Bay Roberts in Newfoundland, which 



212 ROBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL. 

was the scene of his first and best novel, and re- 
mained there five years, — worn at last to a skeleton 
by his self-denying labors, and by his sufferings dur- 
ing a winter-long famine which he and his people 
went through. He was thanked by the Colonial 
government and warmly praised by the press of 
St. John for his philanthropic efforts. His next 
residence was in Newark, N. J., where his mission 
was to the poor and unnoted. In 1859 he removed 
to Duanesburgh, near Schenectady, N. Y., where a 
church had been built and endowed by his wife's 
great-grandfather, Judge Duane. In 1869 he became 
head-master of St. Mark's school in Southborough, 
Mass., where he remained four years, during which 
time the school was greatly prosperous. He next 
became professor of the Latin language and literature 
in Union College, at Schenectady, where he resided 
until his death, which occurred September 12, 1891. 

Mr. Lowell's first novel, " The New Priest in Con- 
ception Bay," was published in Boston in 1858, and 
though not greatly successful with the public, it im- 
pressed all cultivated readers by its pictures of scenery, 
its life-like portraiture of character, and its pure and 
elevated tone. The story is not managed with art ; 
the dialogue is often prolix, and the interest drags. 
Many of its situations, however, are well conceived ; 
and the final scene, in which the people rush from 
the little parish church to look for a man lost in the 
lonely fields of snow, is painted in a masterly way. 
It is a book that only a poet and a man of genius 
could have written. A new edition of this novel, illus- 



HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. 213 

tratcd by Dai ley, appeared in 1863 ; another in 1889. 
The story was much improved by retouching. 

Mr. Lowell also printed, in i860, a volume of 
poems, entitled " Fresh Hearts that Failed Three 
Thousand Years Ago." They have considerable 
merit. One of them, " The Brave Old Ship, the 
Orient," is a powerful picture. The irregular metre 
and want of melody are likely to repel the reader, 
but its descriptions are full of sombre force, and 
leave a lasting impression. His other Works are 
"A Raft that No Man Made," published in the 
** Atlantic" for March, 1862; "Antony Brade: A 
Story of SchoohBoy Life" (1874); " Burgoyne's 
March : A Poem " (1877) ; *' A Story or Two from a 
Dutch Town" (1878). 



HENRY DAVID THOREAU. 

TTENRY DAVID THOREAU was born in Boston, 
]u\y 12, 18 1 7, and graduated at Harvard College 
in 1837. H'^ parents were poor, and his obtaining a 
collegiate education was due to the resolution of his 
mother. He taught school for a time after gradua- 
tion, but was unsuccessful, for the reason that he was 
lacking in tact and in personal dignity. Emerson, 
having formed a high opinion of his abilities, re- 
ceived him into his house, w^here he lived as one of 
the family for about two years. Thoreau read his 



214 HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. 

great friend's books, steeped himself in his thoughts 
and style, and acquired something of his dehberate 
manner of speech. He was not, perhaps, consciously 
an imitator; but no young man at that time could 
have withdrawn himself from the over-mastering in- 
fluence of Emerson. Later, he had a clear and char- 
acteristic style of his own. He supported himself 
chiefly by surveying, but was generally ready to do car- 
pentering or other work that came in his way, though 
never continuously, or i;i a way to hinder his favorite 
pursuits. He explored the country around Concord 
until he knew every foot of ground, and could find 
his way by day or night, by routes " across lots " 
unknown to other men. He was an indefatigable 
student, both of Nature and of the books he admired. 
At the same time he was a Nihilist, the first one of 
whom we have an account. He repudiated the idea 
of owing any obedience to the State, any reverence 
to the Church, or any. duty to society. Logically, he 
refused to pay a poll tax, and was imprisoned by the 
constable. However, his tax was paid for him a day 
later, and he was released. His books arc composed 
of his studies in natural history, his observations 
upon philosophers and poets, and his sharp railing 
against the existing order of things. At one time he 
withdrew from the world (about two miles), and built 
what might be fairly called a shanty on land belong- 
ing to Emerson on the border of Walden Pond. His 
best-known book is the journal of his solitary life 
there. He attached great importance to cheapness 
of living, and mentions that the materials of his 



HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. 215 

** house " cost only about twenty-eight dollars, and 
that the total expense of a year's living was only 
about sixty dollars. 

Whatever we may think of the eccentric man and 
his philosophy of living, we acknowledge a great 
debt to him for his fresh and delightful books. From 
the unpromising natural features of Concord he has 
drawn for us the most beautiful views, and has given 
us the daily studies of a devotee of Nature, in the 
annual procession of flowers and plants, in the habits 
of the lesser animals, and of the singing birds. The 
reader will look in vain elsewhere for such faithful, 
affectionate sketches. His descriptive powers are of 
the highest order, and his sentences appear to have 
been as carefully set as gems. His taste in litera- 
ture was cultivated, and his quotations, especially 
from Oriental sources, are always apposite. But the 
reader does not perceive anywhere the warmth of the 
author's sympathy, unless it is for the four-footed 
hermits, his neighbors. Not that he actually hated 
mankind ; but he was not concerned in their affairs, 
and regarded their labor, worship, and love as being 
of no more vital moment than the nest-building, 
pairing, and morning song of the birds. 

One can see in Thoreau's writings something like 
a trace of irritation at the thought of having been so 
indebted to Emerson ; at all events, he never refers 
to his benefactor in the tone which a grateful man 
would have naturally employed. Apparently he 
wished to emphasize his own individuality, and repu- 
diate the notion of ever having been a disciple. But 



2l6 HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. 

perhaps this was only a part of the nature of the 
man. There is evidence that children were extremely 
fond of him ; but it is doubtful if he ever felt the glow 
of emotion in any friendship for any one outside of 
his family. His eyes were cold ; he never* gave his 
hand in greeting ; he not only never helped any one 
.at his need, but in his books declared that his only 
duty was to himself. His tenderness was reserved 
for the four-footed companions of his solitude. 

Hawthorne has mentioned Thoreau in terms of 
affectionate regard, and says, ** Whilst he used in his 
writings a certain petulance of remark about churches 
and churchmen, he was a person of rare, tender, and 
absolute religion, — a person incapable of any pro- 
fanation." He died in Concord, May 6, 1862. Mr. 
Emerson published an account of him in the " Atlan- 
tic Monthly " shortly after his death. 

Thoreau's Works are " A Week on the Concord and 
Merrimack Rivers" (1849); ** Walden ; Or, Life in 
the Woods " (1854) ; " Excursions " (1863) ; '' Maine 
Woods," "Cape Cod," "A Yankee in Canada," and 
"Letters to Various Persons" (1865). His literary 
executor has also published two volumes, composed 
of selections from his journal. These original jot- 
tings, recording his fresh impressions, are, in our 
judgment, more vivid and interesting than the later 
works for which they served as foundation. His life 
was written by F. B. Sanborn, of Concord. 



J 



JAMES THOMAS FTKLDS. 21 7 



JAMES THOMAS FIFXDS. 

AMES THOMAS FIELDS was born in Ports- 
mouth, N. H., December 31, 1817, and received 
his education in the pubhc schools of that town. 
He removed to Boston, engaged in the business of 
book-selhng, and afterward became a partner in the 
house of Ticknor and Fields, honorably known 
wherever the best books are read. He delivered a 
poem before the Mercantile Library Association in 
1839, and ever afterward devoted himself to literature 
with as much assiduity as to book-making. 

Campbell proposed the health of Bonaparte when 
the news came that he had had a bookseller shot at 
Leipsic, and there are frequent squibs at the expense 
of publishers in the works of the improvident literary 
class. It was reserved for Mr. Fields to form for a 
long period a bond of intimate friendship between 
his own house and the best living authors, and at 
last to go over to them without losing his individu- 
ality, or suffering in the regard of both branches of 
the literary guild. 

Mr. Fields published privately small volumes of 
poems in 1849, 1854, and 1858. He was the editor of 
the *' Atlantic Monthly" from 1862 to 1 870. His long 
acquaintance with authors gave him unusual advan- 
tages in gathering letters and materials for personal 
biography. These collections were given to the read- 
ing public in the ** Atlantic," in a series of papers 
called " Our Whispering Gallery," and were afterward 



2l8 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 

published in a volume entitled *' Yesterdays with 
Authors." The glimpses of private life, the hints of 
conversation, and the numerous letters thus preserved 
are exceedingly interesting, and Mr. Fields's introduc- 
tions and narratives are mostly written with taste and 
judgment. The accounts of Hawthorne and Dickens, 
in particular, are more delightful than any elaborate 
biography would be. The letters of Miss Mitford, 
which conclude the volume, are of less value, as that 
kind-hearted lady seems to have looked at everything 
American through a Claude Lorraine glass. 

Mr. Fields died April 24, 188 1. A memorial vol- 
ume was prepared by his wife. 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 

TAMES RUSSELL LOWELL was born in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., February 22, 18 19, and graduated 
at Harvard College in 1838. After studying law two 
years he was admitted to the bar ; but he never prac- 
tised the profession. Excepting the time he spent 
abroad, he lived nearly all his life in the house in 
which he was born. His early inclinations were 
toward poetry, and he published in 1841 " A Year's 
Life," a small volume now out of print. In 1843 he 
was associated with Robert Carter in editing " The 
Pioneer," — a magazine which might have changed 
our literary history if the publisher had not failed. 



JAMES RUSSEU- I.OWEI,L. 219 

In 1844 he published " A Legend of Brittany," and in 
tl>c same year was married to Maria White, a lovely 
woman, who was in almost every respect the ideal of 
a poet's wife. In 1S45 he published "Conversations 
on the Old Poets," now out of print ; also " The 
Vision of Sir Launfal," the most popular of his serious 
poems. In the year 1848 a new series of poems 
appeared, and also "A Fable for Critics." The 
latter, though professedly a humorous production, 
contains many noble passages, along with estimates 
of the writers of that day which are on the whole 
just and discriminating. It is the wittiest of literary 
satires, and the most faithful of caricatures. 

During the Mexican War Lowell wrote a series of 
poems in the Yankee dialect, attacking the govern- 
ment and the pro-slavery party for its comphcity 
with the national crime. The success of the " Biglow 
Papers " was immediate and unparalleled. The hero, 
Hosea Biglow, and his editor. Parson Wilbur, became 
as well known as any of the creations of gemus. As 
a mere repository of fun the " Biglow Papers .s 
inimitable; but the lines are weapons rather than 
playthings, and their edge was feh during the long 
struggle that followed. During the War of the Re- 
bellion, Lowell wrote a second series, in which the in- 
tensity and frequent pathos are in strong contrast with 
the jocularity of the first. The second is less amusing, 
but on a higher plane. Some of the serious portions, 
though in rustic dialect, contain perhaps nis most m- 
spired poetry. This second volume (1S67) contains 
the best essay upon the Yankee dialect ever written. 



220 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 

In 1852-53, Mr. Lowell visited Europe, ^his wife 
dying shortly after his return. In 1854-55 he delivered 
a course of lectures upon the British poets, marked 
by the acumen and brilliancy which appear in his 
prose essays. In 1855 he succeeded Mr. Longfellow 
as professor of modern languages, etc., in Harvard Col- 
lege. He re-visited Europe to perfect himself for his 
position, and entered upon his duties in August, 1856. 

The ''Atlantic Monthly" was established in 1857 
in aid of the antislavery movement, — three years hav- 
ing been required to secure the co-operation of lead- 
ing writers,! and to decide the publishers upon what 
then seemed a perilous venture. The character of 

1 The account of the origin of the Atlantic Monthly in Apple- 
ton's Cyclopaedia of Biography (article, J. R. Lowell) is almost 
wholly untrue. The few authors who had been invited to write 
for the magazine met at a dinner given by the publishers in 
Boston, without having been consulted upon details, nor upon 
the choice of an editor. If there was a meeting in Emerson's 
study, as the Cyclopaedia says, there could have been nothing 
to discuss. The correspondence had been in the hands of the 
author of this work, who was the literary adviser of the pub- 
lishers and the originator of the magazine. His project had en- 
listed the powerful support of Mrs. Stovve, as well as of Mr. Lee, 
a junior partner, now of the firm of Lee and Shepard. None 
of the writers named in the article above referred to were con- 
cerned with the plan, except in having agreed to contribute. 
The projector, as the time drew near, felt convinced that the 
new magazine should have the aid of a strong name, and hav- 
ing privately sounded Mr. Lowell, arose at the dinner table 
and nominated him as editor-in-chief. Excepting Mr. Lowell, 
no one present, not even the publishers, knew what he was 
going to do. The nomination gave as much surprise as 
pleasure to the company. 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 221 

that ma-azine and the stimulus it gave to the hteraiy 
taste o Ahe country are matters of history. Lowell 
had previously written for "Putnam's Monthly" and 
other magazines; and in 1862, when he left the 
" Atlantic," he was for some years co-editor with 
Charles E. Norton of the " North American Review." 
His essays have been collected in four volumes: 
-Fireside Travels" (1864); "Among my Books" 
(1870); "A Second Series" (1876); and " My Study 
Windows" (1871). He wrote his Commemoration 
Ode (1865) in honor of the sons of Harvard slain in 
the Civil War, and read it most impressively at a 
great open-air meeting. '' Under the Willows," con- 
taining poems of deep insight and spiritual beauty, 
was printed in 1869. 

In the same year appeared " The Cathedral," a 
poem in blank verse, suggested by a visit to Chartres. 
It is considered by many as the highest expression of 
■ Lowell's genius. It is far from popular, for its power 
and glowing imagery are for those who can perceive 
the reach of the poet's subtile analogies. Among 
his occasional contributions should be singled out 
"Fitz-Adam's Story" (Atlantic, Jan. 1867), a Chau- 
cerian study of backwoods life, which has rarely 
been equalled. When the centennial celebrations of 
the early battles of the Revolution and of the De- 
claration of Independence occurred, he wrote three 
noble odes, which were published together. 

In 1877 Mr. Lowell was sent as minister to Spain, 
and in 1881 transferred to the Court of St. James, 
where he remained until 1885. No minister from the 



222 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 

United States ever had a warmer welcome in Great 
Britain ; and his popularity was the more to his honor 
for the reason that he was an American to the last 
drop of his blood. He felt the ties of kinship with 
Englishmen ; but, as in his famous poem " Jonathan 
to John," he never hesitated to uphold the rights and 
honor of his country. His enthusiasm for literature, 
his varied and exact scholarship, and his mastery of 
the English language, in which no living man excelled 
him, made a profound impression. While in Great 
Britain he delivered a great many addresses and 
after-dinner speeches, which were published in 1887 
with the title of " Democracy, and other Addresses." 
They are remarkable not only for solid qualities, but 
for exquisite literary workmanship. A collection of 
occasional poems entitled "Heartsease and Rue" 
was published in 1888. This includes " Fitz-Adam's 
Story" and ''The Nest," the latter written in 1854. 
He was fond of the literary companionship which he 
found in London, and at the close of his diplomatic 
mission spent a few summers there, passing the win- 
ters with his only daughter, Mrs. Edward Burnett of 
Southboro, Mass. He delivered a course of lectures 
before the Lowell Institute of Boston in 1887. 

Lowell was an idealist by nature and training, but 
it was a long path by which he reached eminence. 
After he had grown out of the trivial period, he was 
taught the great lesson of his life by love. His 
sonnets to Maria White were the beginning of his 
growth and precursors of his noblest poems. Having 
enlisted with the reformers, he sang of the wrongs of 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 223 

the slave and the oppression of the poor. " The 
Present Crisis " and other poems of that period glow 
with the beautiful enthusiasm of youth. They give 
hope for uplifting the lowly by active sympathy; 
they rebuke the jarring sects with parables of mu- 
tual forbearance and Christian love. In poems like 
'* Beaver Brook" and "The Foot-Path" is seen his 
power to spiritualize material things, leading the 
reader into an ideal world. Poetry in its highest form 
suggests what cannot be expressed in words ; and with 
those whose minds have been illuminated, these trans- 
cendental poems have an indescribable charm. This 
power is exemplified also in " The Cathedral." 

To say that an author is versatile is generally a 
depreciation. Lowell was not versatile ; but there 
were in him two men,— the idealist and the realist. 
In one phase he was allied to Tennyson, Keats, and 
Emerson ; in the other to Poor Richard and Hudibras. 
He was as truly the one as the other. As Hosea 
Biglow, his foot was on his native soil, and he was 
the embodiment of the solid common-sense, the 
shrewd wit and rustic humor of the Yankee race. As 
the singer of Sir Launfal's story he showed his kin- 
ship to the masters of English verse. His evident 
care is for ideas : if the lines are also sonorous, that 
he will consider fortunate ; but he will not mar his 
thought's full strength for the sake of melody. 
Hence he is not a lyric poet. Nor is he wholly reflec- 
tive and philosophical; for in the " Courtin' " and 
'' Sunthin' in the Pastoral Line " he has shown for the 
first time the idyllic side of Now England life and the 



224 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 

poetical capabilities of the dialect; and in *' The 
Present Crisis " he appears like an heroic bard of 
ancient days, — 

" Both singing and fighting in front of the war." 

These varied manifestations of power are unusual; 
but Lowell was an exceptional man. He was him- 
self in all the characters he created. His prose is the 
prose of a poet ; it has a basis of sound reason, but it 
proceeds with ellipses and bounds instead of keeping 
upon a level track ; it flashes with poetic similes, and 
is studded with allusions that tax the knowledge of 
even well-read men. There are sentences in the 
essay on Milton as gorgeous as gilded armor or a 
king's robes of cloth of gold ; others — as in the essay 
on Chaucer — are as delicately beautiful as spring- 
flowers in a meadow. His prose style can never be 
popular, but for scholars it has an unfailing delight. 

As a man Mr. Lowell was courteous, rather re- 
served with strangers, affectionate with friends, fond of 
stories, and himself a delightful story-teller ; brilliant 
in repartee, apt in quotation, and audacious in forging 
one to suit a comic purpose ; at times of odd and 
humorous whims, yet full of natural piety ; a keen 
observer of nature and of human traits, generous to a 
fault, a hater of shams and of political corruption, — 
in short, the best friend, the most charming companion, 
and one of the ablest and wisest of his generation. 

Mr. Lowell died in Cambridge, Mass., August, 
1 89 1. Charles Eliot Norton is his literary executor, 
and is engaged upon an edition of hi:, letters. 



WILLIAM WETMORE STORY. 22$ 



WILLIAM WETMORE STORY. 

^ILLIAM WETMORE STORY was born in 
^^ Salem, Mass., February 19, 18 19, and was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1838, in the class 
with Professor Lowell. He studied law under the 
instruction of his father, Judge Story, and became an 
able writer upon legal subjects. He reported three 
volumes of cases in the United States Circuit Court, 
published two text-books, and was apparently on the 
road to professional eminence. But he was born with 
an artistic temperament, and amused himself first by 
painting landscapes, and afterward by modelling in 
clay. He went to Rome in 1848, and in the end 
became an eminent sculptor of ideal figures. His 
statues of Saul, Delilah, and Cleopatra, in particular, 
are considered as masterpieces in form and in the 
expression of character, thought, and emotion. His 
success in literature has been almost as remarkable 
as in art. A volume of his poems appeared in 1847, 
and an enlarged edition in 1856. *' Roba di Roma," 
most of which appeared first in the " Atlantic 
Monthly," a vivid picture of the modern city, was 
published in 1862. He published a treatise on the 
'' Proportions of the Human P^'igure " in 1866; 
"Graffiti d' Italia"^ in 1869; and a poem, entitled 
*' The Roman Lawyer in Jerusalem," in 1 870. He 
published the Life and Letters of his father in 1 85 I. 

^ Italian Pencil Sketches. 
15 



226 WILLIAM WETMORE STORY. 

In 1856, at the inauguration of the statue of 
Beethoven in the Boston Music Hall, Mr. Story de- 
livered a splendid prologue, which is included in the 
volume of the same year. Among his other Works 
are " Fiametta," a novelette ; " He and She," a 
dialogue in prose and poetry ; " The Tragedy of 
Nero; " " Stephanie: A Tragedy;" " Poems " (a 
collection in two volumesj ; and " Conversations in a 
Studio," two volumes. He has written also a number 
of important essays for Blackwood's and other mag- 
azines, among which may be named ''The Origin o 
the Italian Language," " The Pronunciation of Latin," 
" Casting in Plaster among the Ancients," " Michel- 
angelo and Phidias." 

The genius of Story is dramatic, and his best 
poems are remarkable chiefly as studies of character. 
" Cleopatra" is an instance of vivid portraiture hardly 
surpassed in our day. The discussion over the meth- 
ods of Leonardo di Vinci in painting the Last Sup- 
per is full of interest. *' The Roman Lawyer in 
Jerusalem," who (in modern phrase) held a brief for 
Judas, is a piece of powerful and subtile reasoning. 

The reputation of Story in the United States has 
undoubtedly suffered by his long residence abroad, 
but his Works have striking merits, and deserve far 
more attention than they have received. His versa- 
tility is remarkable. The Law, Sculpture, Poetry, 
and Prose have all been his province ; and he has 
illustrated whatever he has touched. He has his 
home in Rome. 



EDWIN PERCY WHIPPLE. 22/ 



EDWIN PERCY WHIPPLE. 

CD WIN PERCY WHIPPLE was born in Glouces- 
*^ ter, Mass., March 8, 1819. He was educated in 
the pubhc schools of Salem, and on his removal to 
Boston was employed in a broker's office. He became 
a member of the Mercantile Library Association, and 
in its debates and other literary exercises gained 
the knowledge and practice which laid the foundation 
for his scholarship and fame as a writer. In i860 he 
gave up business to devote himself to literature. He 
was a contributor to the " North American Review," 
the " Christian Examiner," the '• Atlantic Monthly," 
and other periodicals. He delivered a course of lec- 
tures before the Lowell Institute upon the " Litera- 
ture of the Age of Elizabeth," and was for some 
years engaged in lecturing, mostly on literary topics, 
before lyceums and at college anniversaries through- 
out the country. His orations, reviews, and essays 
have been published in nine volumes, i2mo. 

Mr. Whipple's mind was acute and analytic, and 
his mode of dealing with a subject showed his mas- 
ter}^ of principles, his sincerity of character, and his 
power of lucid statement. His style is not uniformly 
easy, although his choice of words is often very felici- 
tous. At times he was epigrammatic and sparkling; 
and when this was the case he was apt to establish a 
formal balance of terse phrases in short, pungent 
sentences, in place of the longer sweep of the older 
and more melodious style of English prose. Like 



228 JULIA WARD HOWE. 

most writers who had their early disciph'ne in debate, 
and maintained an oratorical style by long practice 
in lecturing, he sometimes swelled his periods into 
sonorous measure, and wrote at his reader, as if in 
the midst of a brilliant peroration before an excited 
audience. Our English critics say that most of our 
writers lack repose. Probably this is true ; but it is 
not more true of Mr. Whipple than of many others of 
equal note. We have young blood yet, and have not 
quite settled down into the equable courses of mature 
years. 

Mr. Whipple was one of. the writers w^ho made 
criticism a fine art; and the cultivated reader finds 
almost as much pleasure in his thoughtful discussions 
as in the perusal of a work of original creation. He 
died in June i6, 1886. 



JULIA WARD HOWE. 

JULIA WARD HOWE, daughter of Samuel Ward, 
was born in the city of New York, May 27, 1819. 
She received a careful education from her father, and 
gave evidences of literary talent at an early age. 
She was married in 1843 to Dr. Samuel G. Howe, 
well known as a philanthropist and superintendent of 
the Blind Asylum in Boston, and accompanied him 
upon a tour in Europe. In 1854 she published a 
volume of poems entitled " Passion Flowers," and in 



JULIA WARD HOWE. 229 

1856 another volume, " Words for the Hour." She 
Vv^rote two plays for the stage, — one of which, " The 
World's Own," was performed in Boston. In 1859 
she published a book of travel, entitled " A Trip to 
Cuba." In 1866 appeared her ** Later Lyrics," con- 
taining among other things " Our Orders " and the 
magnificent " Battle Hymn of the Republic," the 
music of which was heard in every Northern camp 
during the late war. Of the other pieces in the 
" Later Lyrics," we would mention " Her Verses : A 
Lyrical Romance," which contains many exquisite 
stanzas. In 1868 she published an account of a trip 
to Athens, called " From the Oak to the Olive ;" in 
1881, "Modern Society: Two Lectures;" in 1883, 
"A Life of Margaret Fuller; '' in 1874 she edited a 
reply to Dr. E. H. Clarke's " Sex in Education." 

Mrso Howe is a woman of remarkable native pow- 
ers, and if she had given the requisite time and thought 
to the perfection of her verse, she might have held a 
higher place among poets. She has been from choice 
an active, living force upon the platform, and has done 
much to quicken the souls of her contemporaries ; 
and this, perhaps, is of as much worth to the world 
as a more enduring literary fame. 

Mrs. Howe is an earnest advocate of woman suf- 
frage, and has written and spoken upon the subject 
with power and eloquence. 



230 THOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS. 

THOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS. 

T^HOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS was bom in 
Boston, Mass., August 18, 1819, and was edu- 
cated in the Latin School. He visited Italy in 1836, 
and thenceforward devoted himself to Italian liter- 
ature, especially to Dante. He became one of the 
most eminent scholars in that field. He published in 
Boston in 1843 a translation of the first ten cantos of 
the ** Inferno." In 1867 the "Inferno" was com- 
pleted, and published with illustrations. "The Old 
House at Sudbury " (Longfellow's " Wayside Inn ") 
appeared in 1870. Mr. Parsons figured among the 
characters in Longfellow's poem. " The Shadow of 
the Obelisk" appeared in 1872. A few occasional 
poems appeared after that date. His minor poems 
contain many beauties, and some of them are likely 
to become classic. "The Lines on a Bust of Dante" 
in their severe simplicity would have won the ap- 
proval of his great master. " To a Lady with a Head 
of Diana" is a sweet and beautiful poem, its lines 
being clear-cut, and wrought with the enduring grace 
of an antique cameo. As a specimen of the gay 
humor of his early days, the reader is referred to 
" Saint Peray." 

Mr. Parsons died in Scituate, Mass., September 3, 
1892. 



JOSIAII GILBERT HOLLAND. 23 1 



JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND. 

TOSL/\H GILBERT HOLLAND was bom in 
*^ Belchertown, Mass., July 24, 181 9, and died in 
the city of New York, October 12, 1881. His early 
education was scanty, and he tried many means of 
earning a livelihood with varying success. At the 
age of twenty-one he began the study of medicine, 
and in due course received his degree, but soon found 
that he had no taste for the profession. He was sub- 
sequently a teacher in Richmond, Va., and then su- 
perintendent of schools in Vicksburg, Miss. Later he 
became an associate editor of the Springfield (Mass.) 
" Republican," and wrote for that paper some of his 
most popular works. In 1870 he went to New York 
and became editor and part proprietor of " Scribner's 
Monthly," where he gained position and fortune. 

Dr. Holland's Works are '' A History of Western 
Massachusetts" (1855); "The Bay Path" (1857); 
*' Timothy Titcomb's Letters to the Young" (1858); 
"Bitter Sweet," a dramatic poem (1858) ; "Gold Foil, 
hammered from Popular Proverbs" (1859); "Miss 
Gilbert's Career" (i860); "Lessons in Life" (1861); 
"Letters to the Joneses" (1865); "Plain Talk on 
Fam.iliar Subjects" (1865); "Life of Abraham 
Lincoln" (1866); " Katrina : Her Life and Mine," a 
narrative poem. (1867); "The Marble Prophecy, 
and other Poems " (1872); "Arthur Bonnicastle : A 
Novel" (1873); "Garnered Sheaves," being his 
complete poems (1873); " The Mistress of the 



232 JOSIAH GILUERT HOLLAND. 

Manse/' a poem (1874); "The Story o( Sevenoaks " 
(1875); *' Every Day Topics" and *' Nicholas Min- 
turn" (1876). 

Dr. Holland's novels are his best works, artistically 
considered. "The Bay Path " is a story of the first 
settlement of Connecticut Valley, and the characters 
and events are mainly historical. The author makes 
no attempt to reproduce the ancient forms of speech, 
but he understands well and has faithfully represented 
the ideas and m'anners of the time. " Miss Gilbert's 
Career" has some good points. It is a novel of 
modern times, and is as new and near, and devoid of 
romantic associations, as a pine-shingled house in the 
factory village it depicts. But its principal figures 
are exhibited with a certain stereoscopic fidelity, and 
the characteristic virtues and meannesses of a Yankee 
neighborhood are naturally developed in the course 
of its events. The volumes of proverbial advice have 
been widely circulated ; their wisdom is of an obvious 
kind, and the author, in his endeavors to put himself 
on a level with his readers, sometimes forgets the style 
of a man of letters as well as the dignity of a teacher 
of morals. The two poems "Bitter Sweet" and 
"Katrina" had a great popularity, running up to 
scores of thousands. Few American works have 
been so rewarded. They are interesting as stories, 
with some bright sketches of rural life, and some 
touches of poetic feeling. They are specially com- 
mended by their many admirers for their religious 
tone and their earnestly expressed lessons. 



IIKRMAN MELVILLE. 233 



HERMAN MELVILLE. 

HERMAN MELVILLE was born in the city of 
New York, August I, 1819. His boyhood was 
spent in the neighborhood of Albany and in Berk- 
shire County, Mass. He gave early evidence of 
talent for composition. At the age of eighteen he 
shipped before the mast as a common sailor; visited 
London, and returned in the same way. In 1841 he 
embarked on a whaling vessel bound to the Pacific, 
Being weary of the service, he deserted, in company 
withl fellow-sailor, in 1842, at Nukuheva, one of the 
Marquesas Islands. Unexpectedly he found himself 
among a race of cannibals, but was hospitably 
treated, though kept in custody for four months, 
when he escaped on a French vessel, and landed at 
Tahiti on the day when the French took possession 
of the Society Islands. From thence he went to 
Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands, and returned to 
Boston in 1844. He wrote an account of his singular 
experiences ; and the work entitled " Typee " was 
published in 1846, simultaneously in London and 
New York. " Typee" closes with an account of the 
author's escape from Nukuheva. A second work, 
"Omoo," published in 1847^ takes up the narrative 
at that point. These are among the most delightful 
books of travel in the language. The style is charm- 
ingly easy, the descriptions are novel and picturesque, 
and the incidents are, if not absolutely true, related 
with an air of verisimilitude. 



234 MERMAN MELVILLE. 

Mr. Mclviilc afterv/ard published " Mardi " and a 
"Voyage Thither" (1849). In the same year ap- 
peared " Redburn : The Reminiscences of a Gentle- 
man's Son in the Merchant Service." In 1850 he 
removed to Pittsfield, Mass. Later, he hved in New 
York city, where he held the office of inspector in 
the custom-house. " White Jacket ; Or, The World 
in a Man-of-War," was published in 1850, and is con- 
sidered one of the most admirable of the author's 
works. In 185 1 he published *' Moby Dick: The 
White Whale," an imaginative story, and not alto- 
gether probable. Later works are " Pierre ; Or, The 
Ambiguities" (1852); "The Piazza Tales," contain- 
ing some powerfully drawn pictures (1856); "The 
Confidence Man" (1857); " Battle-Pieces, and As- 
pects of the War" (1866); "Clarel: A Pilgrimage 
and Poem" (1876). He died in New York, Septem- 
ber 27, 1891. 

A new edition of " Typee " and " Omoo " in 1892, 
after a lapse of nearly half a century, is a striking 
proof of the enduring interest in Melville's Works. 



WALT WHITMAN. 235 



WALT WHITMAN. 



W 



ALT WHITMAN was born in West Hills, 
Long Island, N. Y., May 31, 1819. The 
family lived in a story-and-a-half farm-house, heavily 
tin. bered, and still standing, which overlooks the sea. 
Th^y were a race of workers, to whom books were 
little known. While the author was still a child, his 
pa-ents removed to Brooklyn, where he attended 
sc lool. At the age of thirteen he learned to set 
type, and a few years later he taught in a country 
school. Before he was twenty he wrote a sketch for 
the '^Democratic Review." In 1849 he travelled 
through the Western States, and edited a paper in 
New Orleans for a year. Returning, he continued at 
type-setting for a time, and afterward went into busi- 
ness as a carpenter and builder, which had been his 
father's occupation. Upon removing to New York he 
frequented the society of newspaper reporters some- 
what, but found most to enjoy or to observe in people 
of the lower walks of life. He read much, especially 
in the Bible, which he esteemed as the grandest col- 
lection of literature. He published a volume, entitled 
** Leaves of Grass," in 1856, by which he became 
widely known. The work contains pictures of marked 
originality and unquestionable power, as well as pas- 
sages of a very exceptionable character, for which 
no defence that is valid in this day can be set up. 
This poem was retouched from time to time for 
thirty years. During the late war he was almost con- 



236 WALT WHITMAN. 

stantly employed in hospitals and camps in the re- 
Hef of sick and wounded soldiers. These scenes 
finally took form in his mind, and were published 
in a thin volume entitled " Drum Taps." Those 
who are accustomed to associate the idea of poetry 
with regular classic measure in rhyme, or in ten- 
syllabled blank verse, or elastic hexameters, will s( an 
these short and simple prose sentences with surpr se, 
and will wonder how a succession of them can form a 
poem. But let them read aloud, with minds in syn- 
pathy with the picture as it is displayed, and they v ill 
find by Nature's unmistakable responses that t'le 
author is a poet, and possesses the poet's incommu 
nicable power to touch the heart. This power is 
the inheritance into which the poet is born, and, as 
Webster said of eloquence, labor and learning will 
toil for it in vain. 

What success our author would have had in mould- 
ing his poetic conceptions into recognized poetic 
measure we cannot say. The undying spirit is in 
every line ; but the form, which is its incarnation 
and as inseparable from it as body from soul, is not 
wrought into symmetry. By some eternal law the 
expression of deep emotion, or of the images of 
beauty, not only takes on a nobler form of words 
than belongs to every-day affairs, but falls naturally 
into a rhythmical movement. Had Whitman read 
the Psalms of his favorite David in the Hebrew, or 
the Iliad in its original measure, he might not have 
thought our prose versions to be models either for 
the adequate expression or for the appropriate form 



WALT WHITMAN. 237 

of his ideas. As it is, we must think his lines are 
diamonds in the rough, — virgin gold in unwrought 
nuggets. With many estimates of his genius made 
by his admirers we cannot agree. The grandeur that 
comes from mere geographical vastness is not neces- 
sarily poetical ; and much of Whitman's glorification 
of America comes under that head. But after making 
all deductions, the fact remains that he has set down 
some of the most striking thoughts and sketched 
some of the most vivid scenes to be found in modern 
literature, and that he is less indebted to others for 
his ideas and for his power of illustration than almost 
any American writer. In Great Britain Whitman is 
by many persons, especially by those who favor the 
new school of poetry, set above all other American 
poets. 

The other works of this author are " Memoranda 
during the W^ar " (1867); "Democratic Vistas," es- 
says in prose (1870); "Passage to India " (1870); 
"After All, Not to Create Only" (1871); "As 
Strong as a Bird on Pinions Free " (1872) ; " Speci- 
men Days" (1883); "November Boughs" (1885); 
" Sands at Seventy" (1888). A valuable monograph 
has been written by John Burroughs, entitled " Notes 
on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person ; " another, by 
William D. O'Conner, is entitled " The Good Gray 
Poet: A Vindication." He died in Camden, N. J., 
March 26, 1892. 



238 ALICE GARY. 



ALICE GARY. 



A LICE CARY was born in Mount Healthy, near 
^^ Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1820. She had but 
slight opportunities for education. A series of 
sketches published in the '* National Era " first drew 
public attention to her as a writer. In 1850 she 
published a volume of poems written by herself and 
her sister Phcebe. A volume of her prose sketches, 
entitled " Clovernook," appeared in i85i,a second 
series in 1853, and a third in 1854. She published a 
poem entitled '' Hualco " in 1851 ; " Lyra, and Other 
Poems," in 1853; a new collection of "Poems," in 
1855 ; "Ballads, Lyrics, and Hymns," in 1866; "A 
Lover's Diary," in 1867. She also wrote several 
novels: " Hagar : A Story of To-day" (1853); 
"Hollywood" (1855); *' Married, not Mated" 
(1856); and "The Bishop's Son" (1867); also 
"Pictures of Country Life" (1859), and "Snow- 
berries" (1867). 

Miss Cary removed from her western home to 
New York in 1850, and lived there until her death, 
which occurred P'ebruary 12, 1871. 

There can be no question that Alice Cary had 
what our clerical friends call a " vocation " to poetry. 
She had the clear vision, the instant sense of com- 
parison, and the perception of analogies not discerned 
by common eyes. Her memory treasured all the 
picturesque associations of her childhood, and we 
find them in profusion in her poems. Her art is not 



JAMES PARTON. 239 

SO conspicuous as her poetic insight. Many of her 
'most striking images are rather crudely wrought, 
and to read her hues smoothly requires such a vari- 
ety of accents that the sensitive ear is often pained. 
Some stanzas are padded to proper dimensions by 
phrases that we are accustomed to hear from young 
ladies with limited vocabularies, and which give us 
a sudden descent to the regions of the commonplace. 
But her poetic feeling is genuine ; her cheerful tem- 
per kept her from morbid sentimentalism, the bane 
of modern poetry ; she attempted no flights beyond 
her powers, and never sought to set out the plan of 
the universe in the cant words of metaphysics. For 
these sohd excellences many faults of construction 
are forgiven. Her poems can be read with hearty 
enjoyment, and ought to be remembered and es- 
teemed as among the best utterances of American 
women. 



J 



JAMES PARTON. 

AMES PARTON was born in Canterbury, Eng- 
land, February 9, 1 822. He was brought to 
New York at the age of five years, and received his 
education at an academy in White Plains. He was a 
school-teacher for a time, and afterward was engaged 
as an assistant editor of the " Home Journal." He 
wrote a Life of Horace Greeley, which was pub- 
lished in 1855. This was followed by a Life of 



240 JAMES PARTON. 

Aaron Burr in 1857, and a Life of Andrew Jackson, 
in three volumes, in 1859-60. He made a collection 
of the " Humorous Poetry of the English Language," 
which was printed in 1856. In 1863 he wrote an 
account of " General Butler in New Orleans ; " in 
1864 a Biography of Franklin, in two volumes; 
in 1865, the Life of John Jacob Astor; in 1866, 
" How New York City is Governed ; " '•' Famous 
Americans," in 1867; "The People's Book of Biog- 
raphy," in 1868; "Smoking and Drinking," in 1868 ; 
"The Danish Islands," in 1869; "Topics of the 
Time" (1871) ; "Triumphs of Enterprise, Ingenuity, 
and Public Spirit" (1871) ; "The Words of Wash- 
ington" (1872) ; Fanny Fern (wife of the author) 
a memorial volume (1873); a Life of Jefferson 
(1874); " Taxation of Church Property" (1874); 
" Le Parnasse Francais : French Poetry since 1550" 
(1877); "Caricature and Comic Art in All Times" 
(1877); a Life of Voltaire (1881) ; "Noted Women" 
(1883); "Captains of Industry" (1884). He has 
been a contributor to the " Atlantic " and to other 
periodicals, and has treated in his attractive style of a 
great variety of topics, from Chicago shambles to 
Providence silver-plate. 

Mr. Parton is a man of indefatigable industry, and 
has built his many biographies upon the results of 
faithful study. He has a rare pictorial art, and em- 
ploys in narrative, with strong effect, the countless 
details he has gathered. It is safe to say of any one 
of his Works that it is interesting; and the interest 
is not merely in the style, in the usual meaning 



JAMES PARTON. 24 1 

of the word, — it lies rather in the mastery of the 
subject. 

But in some of his books, when we would consider 
the moral aspect of the characters Mr. Parton has 
drawn for us, we are forced to pause. The sharp lines 
between right and wrong are not always to be seen. 
We know that much is to be pardoned to the biog- 
rapher, because he naturally becomes an advocate, and 
we have been accustomed to see defences and extenua- 
tions put forth for the greatest scoundrels in history. 
When the biographer makes palpable misstatements 
the mischief is easily corrected, for the critic goes 
over the work with a sharp pencil and marks dele, as 
he would upon a faulty proof-sheet. But where the 
writer carelessly or ignorantly confounds the ever- 
lasting ideas of rectitude, there is no setting his story 
right for the inexperienced reader. It may be that 
there are not many untrue paragraphs in the Life 
of Burr; but not even Mr. Barton's plausible art can 
satisfy those who know the history of the last cen- 
tury that Burr was not a thoroughly depraved man. 
Much as we may admire many traits in Jackson's 
character, and his great public services, no candid 
man will assert that his was a soul that could at all 
times bear the clear light of truth. In Mr. Barton's 
book, the facts that might cloud Jackson's character 
and exhibit him as an unscrupulous politician are 
generally set aside, or, if admitted, are palliated and 
defended from the necessities of the case. Some 
of his Famous Americans are people generally 
reprobated. The historian of politics and the rigid 
moralist judge men by very different standards. In 

16 



242 JAMES PARTON. 

comparing two contemporary statesmen, it is quite 
important tliat the writer siiould apply the same rules 
to both. But Mr. Parton, while he paints the sensual 
traits and other dark features of Webster's character 
with an unsparing brush, has nothing but delicate 
words of praise for Clay, who was in no respect 
morally superior to his great rival, and had less of 
manly generosity in his nature. 

The comparison between these two men is men- 
tioned merely as an instance of the color blindness to 
which Mr. Parton is subject. While we find in his 
Works a rare fascination, and can read them with 
profit, it is necessary to bear in mind his tendency to 
exalt his heroes and to blacken their rivals ; and w^e 
should hold a steady balance of judgment when we 
are asked by him to doubt the verdicts of impartial 
WTiters upon the characters of public men. 

In the midst of the scandalous and shameless pur- 
suit of gain that prevails among financiers, specula- 
tors, and office-holders in this country, the writer of 
books for the young has a plain duty to perform; 
and we cannot too strongly condemn the complai- 
sance that passes over in silence the frauds and con- 
spiracies by which vast fortunes are accumulated at 
the expense of the helpless public. Either these 
lives of selfish millionnaires and selfish politicians 
should not be written at all, or the full truth should 
be told ; else in time the idea of moral beauty in 
character might die out of the world. 

This author's Life of Voltaire shows careful study, 
and, like most of his Works, is extremely interesting. 



EDWARD EVERETT HALE. 243 



EDWARD EVERETT HALE. 

CDWARD EVERETT HALE was born in Bos- 
*~^ ton, April 3, 1822, and was graduated at Har- 
vard College in 1839. He studied theology, and in 
1846 was settled as pastor of a Unitarian church in 
Worcester, Mass., where he remained until 1856, 
when he removed to Boston. He inherited literary 
talent from both parents. His father, Nathan Hale, 
was an eminent editor, and his mother, sister of 
Edward Everett, was a woman of superior mind. 
He began to write at an early age, and acquired 
facility and power. His sermons often exhibit a 
fortunate combination of originality and learning. 
His speeches on public occasions always attract at- 
tention, being fruitful in suggestions, often glowing 
in style, and full of witty illustrations. He was not 
of the Transcendental school, nor was he engaged in 
the early antislavery movement ; but in later years 
his fertile mind continually dropped hints for public 
welfare, for private comfort, for municipal purity, 
and for co-operation of labor. He has been much 
occupied with industrial socialism, and of late has 
given his influence to a new party which seeks to 
set up on earth the heaven seen in vision by Edward 
Bellamy. One of his books is a story which depicts 
the rule of" bosses " in American cities. His activ- 
ity has been marvellous, and probably without par- 
allel in this generation. Besides attending to his 
clerical duties, he has been editor of various periodi- 



244 EDWARD EVERETT HALE. 

cals, a lyceum lecturer, a frequent speaker at public 
meetings, a laborer in many societies, an overseer of 
Harvard College, and v/ith all this has found time to 
write about fifty books, — forty of them since 1870. 
His graver works are marked by clear method and 
reasoning power. His tales, sketches, and lighter 
essays have been thrown off without much effort, to 
serve some temporary end. The stories have always 
an obvious purpose, generally advocating some social 
or political reform, or inculcating some generous, 
kindly lesson. It is evident that from this mode of 
composition there will not come masterpieces of style, 
unless by some happy chance : and the chance has 
been fortunate in several instances. *' In His Name," 
a story of the Waldenses, is extremely beautiful and 
leaves an enduring impression. " The Man Without 
a Country" has been very popular. In " If, Yes, and 
Perhaps" there are many striking scenes. But, in 
general, literary style is a matter of secondary con- 
sideration in these teeming works. The author 
prefers to reach the greatest number of minds with 
his suggestions for personal purity and for active 
Christian philanthropy. 

Mr. Hale has written two historical works, for which 
he made extensive original researches, — *' The Life 
of Washington," and " Franklin in France." He has 
written also a short history of Spain, and what is 
styled a '* Chautauquan History of the United States. ' 
Among the tales with a purpose is an interesting 
account of a co-operative woollen mill, — " How They 
Lived at Hampton," — a beatific picture for which 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 245 

there is small hope of realization at present. An- 
other story much talked about is '' Ten Times One 
is Ten." In collaboration with Miss Susan Hale, his 
sister, he has written some sketchy books of travel, — 
•' Family Flights," they are called, treating of Spain, 
Mexico, France, Egypt, and " around home." 

It will be seen that the genius of Mr. Hale is emi- 
nently practical, and aims at the widest results; that 
he endeavors to put New Testament ideas into active 
operation in modern society and politics, instead of 
attacking the sins and sinners of Palestine eighteen 
centuries ago; that he has used all the resources of 
a fertile mind with extraordinary energy in the pro- 
duction of books for his purposes ; and that he will 
be, of his own choice, remembered as an ardent 
apostle of human brotherhood rather than the crea- 
tor of a classic style. 



T 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 

HOMAS BUCHANAN READ was born in 
Chester County, Penn., March 12, 1822. At 
the age of seventeen he went to Cincinnati and en- 
tered a sculptor's studio, but soon after devoted him- 
self to painting. He lived successively in New York, 
Boston, and Philadelphia, and in 1850 visited Europe. 
He returned to Cincinnati in 1858, and afterward 
spent some time in Boston and Cambridge, where he 
painted the portraits of Longfellow's daughters. He 



246 THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 

went to Europe again in 1863 or 1864, and lived at 
Rome until the spring of 1872, when he returned to 
the United States, and died May 11, shortly after his 
arrival at New York. Mr. Read was very successful as 
a painter of portraits and human figures. He pub- 
lished a volume of poems at Boston in 1847 ; another 
at Philadelphia in 1848. "The New Pastoral" 
appeared in 1855 ; "The Home by the Sea," in 1856. 
His collected poems, in two volumes, were published 
in Boston in i860. " The Wagoner of the Allegha- 
nies " was published in 1862; "Sheridan's Ride," his 
most popular poem, in 1865; a new edition of his 
poems, in three volumes, in 1867; ''Good Samari- 
tans," in 1867. 

In art, the prevailing taste among Americans is 
for landscapes, and in poetry there is a similar fond- 
ness for descriptions of natural scenery. Where the 
author gives only an enumeration of natural features, 
— as it were, a rhymed catalogue, — he speedily be- 
comes tiresome; but a landscape, as seen in a poet's 
vision and reproduced as a whole by clear, bold 
strokes, appeals to the imagination as strongly as any 
form of creative art. Mr. Read painted an autumn 
landscape with fidelity and picturesque -power. It is 
worthy of being studied beside the best works of the 
kind. He was more than a seeker of epithets, and 
his poems are more than accumulations of mosaics. 
We are sometimes reminded by the sudden presenta- 
tion of some grand image, — as of the balanced set- 
ting sun and rising moon in "Nightfall," — ^ that we 
are in contact with a mind of original force; and we 



RICHARD GRANT WHITE. 247 

also see the hand of the artist in the just proportions 
and in the harmonious accessories of the poem. But 
this is not true of any large number of his poems ; 
for they are very unequal, and many of them would 
have been dropped upon a careful revision. Those 
we have mentioned, together with " Drifting" and 
*' The Song of the Alpine Guide," are worthy to rank 
among the best modern poems. 



RICHARD GRANT WHITE. 

niCHARD GRANT WHITE was born in the 
"^^ city of New York, May 23, 1822, and was grad- 
uated at the University of New York in 1839. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1845, but soon devoted 
himself to literature, especially to the Works of 
Shakespeare and his contemporaries. His principal 
work, for which his other efforts have served as 
studies, was his edition of Shakespeare, in twelve 
volumes. In this he showed himself an accomplished 
scholar and philologist, and earned the respect of all 
cultivated men. He published a treatise, entitled 
" Shakespeare's Scholar," in 1854, and an "Essay on 
the Authorship of King Henry VI." in 1859. He 
edited a collection of National Hymns in 1861, and 
a collection of the " Poetry of the Civil War " in 
1866. He published, in 1870, a work entitled 
" Words and their Uses," a valuable aid to students 



248 DONALD GRANT MITCHELL. 

and men of letters. He was for some years editor of 
the New York " Courier and Enquirer," and was a 
leading contributor to " Putnam's Monthly " and other 
magazines. Among other published Works may be 
mentioned a "Biographical and Critical Handbook of 
Christian Art " (1853) ; " The New Gospel of Peace " 
(1866); "American View of the Copyright Ques- 
tion" (1880) ; "Every-Day English" (1881); "Eng- 
land Without and Within" (1881); "The Fate of 
Mansfield Humphrey: A Novel" (1884). He died 
in New York, April 8, 1885. "Studies of Shake- 
speare " and other articles appeared after his death. 

As a writer Mr. White was positive in tone, and 
forcible and idiomatic in expression. His Works 
show great industry, as well as the results of critical 
observation in language, history, and manners. 



DONALD GRANT MITCHELL. 

pvONALD GRANT MITCHELL was born in 
Norwich, Conn., in April, 1822, and was gradu- 
ated at Yale College in 1841. Being in delicate 
health, he spent a few years on his grandfather's 
farm, and became greatly interested in husbandry. 
He went to England in 1844, and rambled through 
every county on foot, — writing letters thence for 
the Albany " Cultivator." After passing eighteen 
months on the Continent, he returned home and 



DONALD GRANT MITCHELL. 249 

published an account of his travels, entitled " Fresh 
Gleanings ; Or, a New Sheaf from the Old Fields of 
Continental Europe, by Ik Marvel." Several later 
works bore the same pen-name. He visited Europe 
a second time in 1848, and on his return published 
" The Battle Summer." He next published a serial 
entitled " The Lorgnette," afterward collected in two 
volumes. About the same time appeared his most 
popular work, " The Reveries of a Bachelor." This 
is a series of dainty pictures of life as seen by a 
susceptible and romantic youth, and is extremely 
fascinating to those who have not advanced beyond 
its tender experiences. A second volume, entitled 
*' Dream Life," appeared a year later. " Fudge 
Doings," published in 1854, is the title of a series of 
sketches of fashionable life that originally appeared 
in the " Knickerbocker Magazine." In 1853 he was 
appointed consul to Venice. On his return in 1855 
he settled upon his farm near New Haven, where 
he has since lived. The time of Mr. MitchelFs re- 
tirement to his farm marks a great change in the 
style and character of his Works. " My Farm of 
Edgcwood," published in 1863, is a charming book, 
full of bright pictures, and retaining enough of the 
grace of his early manner without its rather cloying 
sentiment. "Wet Days at Edgewood " (1S64) con- 
tains some agreeable accounts of ancient writers 
upon agriculture. These were followed by " Seven 
Stories," a novel, in 1865 ; " Doctor Johns," a novel, 
in 1S67 ; and " Rural Studies " in 186;. Later works 
are "About Old Story Tellers" (1877); "The 



250 OCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTFIINGHAM. 

Woodbridge Record " (the family of the author's 
mother) and " Daniel Tyler," a memorial volume, 
in 1883. 

Mr. Mitchell's eminent characteristic is grace. He 
has seen much and read much, and we feel while 
following his guidance that he is shrewd and ob- 
servant, kindly and hopeful, just and dispassionate. 
His books, especially his later ones, have a healthy 
and manly tone, with an unobtrusive but pervading 
humor. 



OCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTH INGHAM. 

QCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTHINGHAM was 
^-^^ born in Boston, Mass., November 26, 1822. 
He graduated at Harvard College in 1843, and after 
a course in the Divinity School was in 1847 ordained 
pastor of a church in Salem, Mass. He next preached 
in Jersey City for some years, and afterward removed 
to New York, where in ] 860 a society was organized 
for him. In 1879 he left the ministry on account of 
ill health; and went to Europe, where he remained for 
tv/o years. On his return he settled in Boston, and 
devoted himself to literature. 

Mr. Frothingham was a leader among the advanced 
rationalists in the Unitarian body, and few of his 
works belong to pure literature. His power and 
style, however, are eminent, and would establish him 
as a man of letters independent of the subjects 



OCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTHINGHAM. 25 1 

treated. His principal Works are as follows: "The 
Religion of Humanity " ( 1873 ) ; " The Life of Theo- 
dore Parker" (1874); "Transcendentalism in New 
England" (1876); "The Life of Gerrit Smith" 
(1878) ; "The Cradle of the Christ" (1880); "Life 
of George Ripley" (1882); "Memoir of W. H. 
Channing" (1886); "Memoir of D. A. Wasson " 
(1889); " Boston Unitarianism " (1890); and "Re- 
collections and Impressions" (1891). 

Besides these, Mr. Frothingham has written many 
essays and reviews for periodicals, and has printed a 
great number of sermons. He appears to have in- 
herited his taste and talent from his father, Nathaniel 
Langdon Frothingham (i 793-1 870), a much respected 
clergyman, who was the author not only of several 
volumes of sermons, but of " Metrical Pieces, Original 
and Translated." In fact, the father was the pioneer 
in this country in translating German literature ; and 
his work was admirably done. 

Another member of the family, Ellen (born 1835), 
daughter of Nathaniel and sister of Octavius, is also 
distinguished as a translator, and has enriched our 
literature by versions of Goethe's " Hermann and 
Dorothea," Lessing's " Nathan the Wise " and " Lao- 
coon," and Grillparzer's " Sappho." The literary 
public is greatly indebted to this learned and accom- 
plished family. 

Mr. O. B. Frothingham resides in Boston, and is 
busy with literary labors. Miss Frothingham has been 
obliged to give up work, owing to the partial failure of 
her eyesight, and is living with a niece in Colorado. 



252 FRANCIS PARKMAN. 



FRANCIS PARKMAN. 

CRANCIS PARKMAN was born in Boston, Sep- 
tember 1 6, 1823, and was graduated at Harvard 
College in 1844. He visited Europe, and on his 
return made a journey across the prairies and among 
the Rocky Mountains. An account of this explora- 
tion was published in 1847, entitled "The Oregon 
Trail." He wrote an important historical work, 
entitled ''The Conspiracy of Pontiac " in 1851. It 
presents a view of North America and its peoples 
about the time of the fall of Quebec. Although its 
events are subsequent in the order of time to the his- 
tories written later, still, on account of its careful 
studies of Indian character, it may be best that it 
should be read first. He wrote an historical novel, 
entitled "Vassal Morton," about 1854. Afterward, 
for nearly ten years he suiTered from a severe dis- 
ease of the brain, and was unable to continue his 
historical labors, or even at times to read so much as 
a newspaper. His cheerful temper and active habits 
carried him through the long trial, and at length he 
began to develop the idea which he had formed. 
This was to relate the history of the attempts of the 
French and Spanish to colonize North America. He 
was thoroughly familiar with the Indians of the West. 
He had hunted with them, and shared their life of 
activity and their comfortless camps. He knew the 
language of more than one tribe. He made a care- 
ful study, from original sources, of the routes and 



FRANCIS PARKMAN. 253 

adventures of the early explorers, and of the journals 
of the Jesuit missionaries. He published, in 1865, a 
volume entitled " Pioneers of France in the Nevv 
World." This was followed by other works, whicn 
in time were connected in an orderly series; but 
instead of giving the separate dates of their publica- 
tion it wilf be more useful to arrange them m the 
order they should be read: (i) " Pioneers of trance 
in the New World." (2) "The Jesuits in North 
America," a history of missions. (3) " La Salle, 
and the Discovery of the Great West." (4) ''The 
Old R6<^ime in Canada," an account of the Colonial 
Government. (5) "Count Frontenac and New 
France under Louis XIV." (6) ''A Half Century 
of Conflict." (7) " Montcalm and Wolfe," the end of 
the long contest for the possession of Canada. 

Mr. Parkman writes with uncommon vigor, and 
his pao-es are alive with thrilling adventure, brilliant 
description, and romantic episodes. His fairness is 
vouched for by the fact that, though a Protestant him- 
self, his narratives of the heroic and self-sacrificing 
Jesuit fathers are warmly commended by Catholic 
authorities in this country and in Canada. The con- 
flicts of savages can never have the interest for civil- 
ized readers which we feel in the great struggles of 
European nations. Battles like those of lours, 
Lepanto, Hastings, Waterloo, Sevastopol, and Sedan 
signify the triumph of the ideas of the conquering 
ra'^ce or nation. The desperate encounters between 
Indian tribes settled no principle, and left the equi- 
librium of mankind undisturbed. It is for this reason, 



2 54 FRANCIS PARKMAN. 

almost wholly, that Parkman has now less renown as a 
historian than some of his more fortunate rivals. The 
tawny Ajax or Hector does not stand for so much now 
as in Homer's time. Mr. Parkman writes with the 
vividness of an eye-witness, and sometimes gives to 
a skirmish an undue importance ; but his qualities as 
a writer are of a high order. He has left no room 
for a competitor in the same field ; and his Works, in 
our judgment, are surer of going down to posterity 
as authorities than almost any histories that have 
been written in our time. Much of the history of 
Europe, and all of our own annals, will some day be 
written anew. Mr. Parkman's graphic relations, we 
believe, will be read as long as the character and fate 
of the aborigines, and the toils of P'rench explorers 
and colonists, have any interest for the world. They 
throw an instructive side-light upon the blindness 
and incompetence of French statesmen, and furnish 
the student of our own early history with valuable 
aid. Young readers may be assured that every vol- 
ume is as absorbing as a novel. 

Mr. Parkman lives in Boston during the winter, 
and in the suburb of Jamaica Plain in summer. 
When in good health, he has been an enthusiastic 
cultivator of roses. At present he is much confined 
to the house.. 



GEORGE HENRY BOKER. 255 



GEORGE HENRY BOKER. 

GEORGE HENRY BOKER was born in Phila- 
delphia in 1823, and was graduated at Prince- 
ton College, N. J., in 1842. He studied law, but 
never engaged in practice. He made a trip to 
Europe, and upon his return settled in his native 
city. In 1847 he published a volume entitled "The 
Lesson of Life, and other Poems." The following 
year he published " Calaynos," a tragedy, which was 
brought out upon the stage in London with success. 
His second tragedy, '^ Anne Boleyn," was brought 
out not long after. This was followed by several 
other plays, which were produced upon the stage, 
and gave the author a wide reputation. He also 
published '' Poems of the War," " Street Lyrics," 
'* Konigsmark," "The Legend of the Hounds, and 
other Poems " (1869), and " The Book of the Dead " 
(1882). His early poems and tragedies have been 
collected in two volumes, entitled " Plays and Poems." 
As a favorable specimen of his style and his power 
the reader is referred to the dramatic sketch, " The 
Podesta's Daughter." He was greatly interested in 
the fortunes of the late Civil War, and showed in 
his spirited lyrics the depth and fervency of his 
patriotism. 

Mr. Boker was appointed minister to Turkey in 
1871, and in 1875 was transferred to St. Petersburg. 
He returned to Philadelphia in 1879, where he died 
January 2, i8go. A volume of his sonnets appeared 



256 WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. 

in 1886. His plays probably contain his best work; 
but his sonnets, and especially his patriotic poems, 
have many ardent admirers. 



WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. 

VyiLLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER was born 
in Freeport, Mass., December 11, 1823. His 
early advantages were meagre, and it was by his own 
hard work that he earned the means of his support 
while fitting for college. He was graduated at Har- 
vard in 1847, ^^^^ ^fter studying divinity was invited 
to preach by a Unitarian society in Roxbury, where 
he remained eight years. Meanwhile he studied Eng- 
lish and Oriental literature, and wrote assiduously for 
various periodicals. 

Mr. Alger was next settled over the Bulfinch Street 
Church in Boston, and preached for that society ten 
years. During this period he completed his work 
upon the " Poetry of the Orient," and that upon the 
*• History of the Doctrine of a Future Life." In 1865 
he made a visit to Europe, and on his return was 
settled over Theodore Parker's society, which met in 
Boston Music Hall. Mr. Alger occupied this place 
for six years, and with great acceptance. The con- 
gregation was large, highly intelligent, and naturally, 
critical. Mr. Alger was always well prepared for his 
pulpit exercises, and his voice and delivery were 



WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. 257 

effective. In 1868 he was chaplain of the Massachu- 
setts House of Representatives. The attendance of 
legislators upon public prayers is generally perfunc- 
tory, and often marked by indifference, or something 
worse ; but Mr. Alger's brief petitions were so pointed, 
thoughtful, and luminous, that they compelled atten- 
tion, and drew every man to his place. No one 
wished to miss the sentences which carried such 
weight, and were set in such forms of beauty. 

Mr. Alger went abroad again in 1871. After re- 
turning he preached four years for the Church of the 
Messiah, in New York. At intervals since he has 
preached in Chicago, Providence, New Orleans, and 
San Francisco. 

Mr. Alger studied the system of expression set 
forth by Delsarte, and became his warm admirer. 
He travelled toward Paris hoping to meet Delsarte ; 
but when, after the rage of the Commune, he suc- 
ceeded in entering the city, Delsarte was dead. Fol- 
lowing up this subject, Mr. Alger has written lectures 
on the Evolution of the Voice, upon Personality in Ex- 
pression, upon the Meaning and Effects of Rhythm. 
He has delivered these at Boston University. He is 
generally recognized as the leading exponent of Del- 
sarte's Philosophy of Expression. 

In the " History of the Doctrine of a Future Life " 
Mr. Alger has traversed a vast field, and, in addition 
to the historical view, has essayed a new solution 
of the problem of Creation, Original Sin, and the 
Reconciliation of God with man. His work on 
Oriental Poetry consists mainly of his own transla- 



258 WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. 

tions. His style is crisp, sparkling, and often epigram- 
matic. Owing to his terse and pointed periods, and 
to his impressive voice and manner, he has been 
very successful as a lecturer. One of Mr. Alger's 
most popular works is " The Genius of Solitude." 
In this his method has some resemblance to that 
of Burton; only, in " The Anatomy of Melancholy " 
the quotations are in Latin, while Mr. Alger's are 
generally in English. Seldom is a book seen so 
filled with apt, varied, and copious learning. 

Here is a nearly complete list of his Works: ''The 
Symbolic History of the Cross" (1851); '' The Poetry 
of the Orient " (1856) ; " The Genius and Posture of 
America" (1857); "History of the Doctrine of a 
Future Life" (1861); "The Genius of Solitude" 
(1861); " Public Morals; Or, The True Glory of a 
State" (1862); "Friendships of Women " (1867); 
*' Prayers for a Legislature " (1869) ; "Life of P^dwin 
Forrest, with a Survey of Dramatic Art " ( 1 877) ; '' The 
School of Life " (1881 ) ; " Sources of Consolation " 
(1892). He edited also Martineau's "Studies in 
Christianity," and wrote an introduction for Professor 
Gratry's " Guide for the Knowledge of God." 



T 



THOMAS WENTWORTH IlIGGINSON. 259 



THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. 

HOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON was 
born in Cambridge, Mass., December 22, 1823, 
and was graduated at Harvard College in 1841. He 
studied theology at Cambridge, and was settled as 
pastor of the First Church in Newburyport in 1847. 
He was also pastor of the Free Church in Worcester 
from 1852 to 1858. He was an ardent friend of the 
antislavery cause, and a prominent actor in various 
progressive movements. He was indicted, in com- 
pany with Parker, Phillips, and others, for the attempt 
to rescue Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave, from the 
custody of the United States officers. He was very 
active in the work of planting colonies from the free 
States in Kansas. Before the Civil War broke out 
he had left the clerical profession ; and believing that 
the sword was needed more than the pen, he entered 
the military service, and was appointed colonel of 
the first regiment of black troops raised in South 
Carolina. He saw some active service, and after 
being wounded at an engagement on the Edisto 
River was discharged for disability in October, 1864. 
He lived at Newport, R. I., for some years, but is now 
living in Cambridge. 

Colonel Higginson's ability as a writer was first 
generally recognized in his essays contributed to 
the early numbers of the "Atlantic Monthly." 
They were mostly upon out-door life and athletic 
sports, and were directed strongly against the pre- 



26o THOiMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. 

vailing effeminacy and want of physical energy 
among clergymen and other scholars. These es- 
says were collected in 1863, with the title of "Out- 
Door Papers." There are few volumes in our time 
that have so many exquisite passages of description, 
so much masculine thought, and such a hearty, 
cheerful tone. We may add that in the purity and 
beauty of his style Colonel Higginson is surpassed 
by very few living writers. " Malbone: An Oldport 
Romance," reprinted also from the " Atlantic," ap- 
peared in 1869; "Army Life in a Black Regiment" 
in 1870; "Atlantic Essays" in 1871 ; "Oldport 
Days" (1873); " Young Folks' History of the United 
States" (1875); "Young Folks' Book of American 
Explorers" (1877); "Short Studies of American 
Authors " (1879) ; " Common Sense about Women " 
(1881) ; " Margaret Fuller Ossoh " (1884) ; " Wendell 
Phillips," a biographical essay (1884); "A Larger 
History of the United States" (1885); " The Mon- 
arch of Dreams" (i886) ; "Hints on Writing and 
Speech-making" (1887); "Travellers and Outlaws" 
(1888); "The Afternoon Landscape: Poems and 
Translations" (1889); "The New World and the 
New Book" (1891). He edited the "Harvard Me- 
morial Biographies," in two volumes, being the lives 
of the Harvard graduates who fell in the late war. 
This is an enduring monument of his patriotic feeling, 
good judgment, and literary skill. He published a 
translation of Epictetus in 1865. He is a frequent 
contributor to several leading periodicals, particularly 
the " Woman's Journal." 



GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 26 1 

In literary or critical dissertation Colonel Higginson 
shows keen insight and strong impulse, with delicacy 
of treatment. The "Short Studies" are marvels of 
acuteness and grace ; the estimates are so just and 
the style so fascinating that the reader regrets their 
brevity, and wishes they might embrace the principal 
authors of the century. " The New World and the 
New Book " is a collection of literary essays which it 
would be hard to parallel on either side of the Atlan- 
tic. Their main doctrine is the necessary independ- 
ence of American literature in regard to foreign 
critics and canons. It is the same doctrine which 
Emerson presented so forcibly in his oration at 
Cambridge on "The American Scholar." In Hig- 
ginson's sentences there is a bracing influence like 
that of a fresh northwest wind. The book is an 
infinite credit to our literature, and one that will be 
read and quoted in after days. 

Colonel Higginson is now the Historiographer of 
Massachusetts during the Civil War. 



GEORGE WTLLIAM CURTIS. 

r^EORGE WILLIAM CURTIS was born in 
^^ Providence, R. I., February 24, 1824. He 
received his early education in a private school at 
Jamaica Plain, Mass. When he was fifteen years old 
his father removed to New York, and he was placed 



262 GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 

in the counting-room of a merchant, where he re- 
mained only a year. In 1842 he went to the famous 
Brook Farm, in West Roxbury, and remained a year 
and a half with that fraternity, devoting his time to 
study and to agricultural labor. Afterward, being at- 
tracted by the intellectual society of Concord, Mass., 
he went there and lived with a farmer eighteen months, 
still pursuing his studies, while doing regular work 
upon the farm. In 1846 he went to Europe, and 
spent some years in study and travel, extending his 
tour to Egypt and Syria. Soon after his return to the 
United States, in 1850, he published his first work, 
*' Nile Notes of a Howadji." He became connected 
with the New York "Tribune," and wrote letters for 
it from various watering-places, which were afterward 
collected in a volume entitled " Lotos-Eating.'* His 
second book, " The Howadji in Syria," was published 
in 1852. "Putnam's Monthly" was established in 
the same year, and Mr. Curtis was one of the original 
editors. For this magazine he wrote a number of 
delightful sketches and essays, some of which were 
afterward published with the title " Prue and I." A 
pretty rill of a story runs through it like a musical 
brook through a romantic valley. The lovely young 
matron " Prue " is the sharer in the thoughts and the 
reminiscences of the story-teller, as well as in his 
affection and measureless content. The style is as 
unpretentious and as lovely as the story. Its mel- 
ody might easily glide into verse. The sketches are 
full of the best fruits of reading and travel, and pre- 
serve for us those picturesque associations of the 



GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 263 

Old World for which we look in the note-books of 
tourists ill vain. 

" The Potiphar Papers " is the title of a volume of 
satirical sketches of fashionable society, published 
originally in " Putnam's Monthly." Mr. Curtis also 
published a novel called " Trumps," which was viva- 
cious and elegant in style, but lacking in the strong 
dramatic interest which modern readers of fiction 
require. 

" Putnam's Monthly" was an excellent and well- 
conducted magazine, but it was not very successful 
in a business point of view. After the failure of 
the original publisher, it was continued by a firm in 
which Mr. Curtis was a silent partner. In 1857 the 
house became insolvent, and in the endeavor to save 
the creditors from loss he sank his entire fortune. 

Mr. Curtis became a public lecturer in 1853, and 
was eminently successful in this field. His clear 
thought, high moral purpose, varied experience, and 
glowing style, aided by his attractive presence and 
finely modulated voice, combined to make him one of 
the ablest and most popular of public speakers. In 
the PresidcAitial campaigns of 1856 and i860 he was 
a prominent advocate of the Republican party. In 
later years he was an Independent, and supported 
Mr. Cleveland. He was for a long time a contributor 
to " Harper's Monthly," in which his brief essays, 
under the head of " The Easy Chair," have been 
greatly admired. From 1857 he was the editor of 
" Harper's Weekly," and mainly instrumental in giv- 
ing to that paper its strong positive character and its 



264 CHARLES GODFREY LELAND. 

wide reputation. He was an admirable writer, and 
the master of a refined and delicate style ; he was also 
one of the most conspicuous exemplars of upright- 
ness, high-mindedness, purity, and honor which our 
generation has known. He died August 31, 1892. 



CHARLES GODFREY LELAND. 

pHARLES GODFREY LELAND was born in 
^^ the city of Philadelphia, August 15, 1824, and 
was graduated at Princeton College, N. J., in 1845. 
He afterward studied at the universities of Heidel- 
berg, Munich, and Paris. He studied law on his 
return, and was admitted to the bar, but never prac- 
tised the profession. He was a frequent contributor 
to the " Knickerbocker Magazine " and other periodi- 
cals. He published " The Poetry and Mystery of 
Dreams " in 1855 ; " Meister Karl's Sketch Book " in 
1856. This has long been a favorite with scholars. 
Washington Irving said that he always kept " Meister 
Karl" by him to nibble at, like a bit of old cheese, 
or a pot of pdtc de foie gras. It was in the same 
year (1856) that Leland wrote the ballad of " Hans 
Breitmann," which went everywhere as on wings. 
Some years later he followed this with the adventures 
of Breitmann as a " bummer " (camp-follower) with 
the army of General Sherman, — included with the 
Breitmann ballads. His literary work, as we shall 



CHARLES GODFREY LELAND. 265 

see, rests on solid foundations ; but it is to the for- 
tunate hit made by these ballads in the Pennsylvania 
dialect that he owes his extended fame. 

The variety of his labors makes it difficult to give 
a satisfactory account of this author, or a full list of 
his Works. He seems to be equally at home in most 
modern languages, having read essays before learned 
French and German societies in their own tongues. 
His translation of Heine's " Reisebilder " has had 
great success. He has studied the language and his- 
tory of the English Gypsies, and has also published 
a collection of Anglo-Romany ballads. He wrote 
" Ye Book of Copperheads," a satire that was greatly 
admired by Abraham Lincoln ; also a pamphlet upon 
" Centralization vs. State Rights." In 1870 he wrote 
upon France, Alsace, and Lorraine, — some of the 
sentences from which were repeated verbatim by 
Prince Bismarck on a public occasion. Other mis- 
cellaneous productions are his " Life of Abraham 
Lincoln," "The Egyptian Sketch Book," "Sunshine 
in Thought," "The Algonquin Legends of New Eng- 
land," "The Music Lesson of Confucius," and other 
poems. But during the last ten years his efforts have 
been devoted mainly to works on education, on which 
subject he has developed a theory of training the 
faculties, including the memory. He has also wTitten 
manuals upon Lidustrial and Decorative Art, and 
evidently regards this group of books the important 
work of his life. 



266 WILLIAM T. ADAMS. 



WILLIAM T. ADAMS. 

VUILLIAM T. ADAMS was bom in Medway, 
Mass., July 30, 1822. His early boyhood was 
passed in Boston. The education he received was 
wholly in the public schools. He was an excellent 
scholar, and was noted among students for his facility 
and force in writing " compositions." At the age of 
21 he began teaching, and the next year was master 
of a grammar school in Dorchester. After three 
years' service he resigned, and made an extended 
tour of the country. Consciously or unconsciously, 
he was gathering materials for his stories, of which 
the first appeared in 1854. In i860 he was head- 
master of the Boylston School, and remained in 
service until 1865, when he quitted the profession to 
devote himself to his chosen work, — writing stories 
for youth. It was a time when pseudonyms were in 
fashion : e. g. " Alfred Crowquill," " M. A. Titmarsh," 
" George Eliot," *' Paul Creyton," and " Meister 
Karl;" and Mr. Adams, having seen an amusing 
character. Doctor Optic, in a popular play, chose for 
his pen-name " Oliver Optic," by which he has been 
known ever since. 

Mr. Adams's first series of stories was called " The 
Boat Club," and was instantly received with favor. 
Since that time (1854 to 1892) he has written more 
than one hundred volumes, besides more than a 
thousand short stories for periodicals. His mental 
habit is one of close observation, followed by me- 



WILLIAM T. ADAMS. 267 

thodical study and unflagging industry. The scenes 
in his books are scattered all over the world ; but 
he has personally visited every one, and laid the 
foundations of his stories on facts. He has not had 
to draw on his imagination for scenery, manners, 
or character. 

The writer remembers hearing Mr. Adams at a 
literary club give his impressions of Stockholm, 
without written notes. The descriptions followed 
in due order, and in fluent language that could have 
been printed without change. It was an impromptu 
essay, extremely interesting and beautiful; and it 
was simply the result of a careful reproduction of 
what his memory had stored. From this it was 
easy to see how he has been able to produce such 
a multitude of books. 

It is admitted that Oliver Optic's books are "ex- 
citing." If they were not they would not be read; 
boys do not willingly take up prosy descriptions or 
didactic essays. But they are not unhealthy, and do 
not violate probabilities any more than is inevitable 
in all fictions conceived as dramas with plots. His 
boys are wholesome, natural creatures, with good 
impulses and bad, — with graces, foibles, noblenesses, 
and faults. The moral standard is always high. He 
exposes and rebukes selfishness, envy, detraction, 
and brutality, and shows that the only life worth 
living is one animated by high principles and 
devoted to doing good. His style has a fluid excel- 
lence and lucidity with continued animation, but is 
not often touched by the high lights of a poetical 



268 WILLIAM T. ADAMS. 

imagination, — "not too bright or good for human 
nature's daily food." It is a style best adapted to 
the work he has chosen to do. His stories draw and 
hold the attention of young readers, and all his pic- 
tures are faithful and impressive. 

As a proof that this author's power is not exhausted, 
it may be stated that his last books, " The Blue and 
the Gray" (six volumes), have met with greater suc- 
cess and have been more generally praised than any 
series preceding. The total sales of his books have 
reached a million and a half copies. If such an 
author does not occupy a distinguished place in lit- 
erature, he is at least a great public benefactor, 
and will be remembered with gratitude by genera- 
tions of boys. 

Mr. Adams was married in 1846, being then 24, 
and has lived for fifty years in Dorchester, now a 
part of Boston. Three daughters were born to him, 
one of whom died in infancy, one in 1884, and the 
third is the wife of Mr. Sol. Smith Russell, comedian. 
Mrs. Adams died in 1885. 



BENJAMIN WEST BALL. 269 

BENJAMIN WEST BALL. 

OENJAMIN WEST BALL was born in Concord, 
D Mass., January 27, 1823. His childhood and 
early youth were passed in his native town, and after- 
ward in Groton, where he attended the Lawrence 
Academy, and was prepared for Dartmouth College. 
After completing his course he spent his time in 
cultivating the acquaintance and studying the phi- 
losophy of Emerson, his illustrious townsman. He 
wrote of himself later: Mt was my good fortune 
to have lived in my boyhood and youth in such 
beautiful New England towns as Concord, Harvard, 
and Groton, almost under the shadow of Wachuset 
Mountain. If I have any of the mens divinior of a 
poet, it was kindled and nurtured by the scenery 
of those towns." 

In 1 85 1 Mr. Ball published his first volume ot 
poems, wholly Greek in thought and inspiration. He 
says he was almost a pagan at the time, — a Greek of 
the age of Pericles, — but became a modern under 
the influence of Carlyle, Macaulay, Tennyson, and 
Dickens. He studied law with the hero of Lowell's 
well known ballad, that 

John P. 

Robinson, lie [who] 
Says he won't vote for Guv'ner B. 

After practising law two years he was married to 
Miss Dollie S. Hurd, of Rochester, N. H., where he 
established his home. He was editor of a newspaper 



2/0 BENJAMIN WEST BALL. 

during the Fremont campaign of 1856, and afterward 
a Washington correspondent. He contributed to the 
"Atlantic Monthly" and other periodicals articles 
upon Greek history, poetry, and philosophy, and 
became known as an eminent scholar. The inci- 
dents of his life were few ; and, as he said, his auto- 
biography would only be a record of his mental 
development, — as he was a book- worm, a man of 
ideas. 

In 1892 a collection of Mr. Ball's poems was made 
and published, with an introduction by Frederick F. 
Ayer. To all intellectual men, and more especially to 
those who have been influenced by Greek culture, it is 
a volume full of deep interest. It deals with the great 
problems of human existence, and lifts the minds of 
readers to the serene heights where Goethe and Emer- 
son live. Ball is probably more purely philosopher 
than poet, and, without being precisely a pantheist, 
appears to incline to the views of Spinoza, the man of 
divinest, purest life in recent centuries. That he is 
more philosopher than poet is evidenced both by his 
chosen subjects and their treatment. In this he re- 
sembles Emerson. Both however vary their moods, 
and sometimes sing of the bright things of earth. 
Emerson gave us the fresh pictures of birds and 
blossoms in " May Day ; " and Ball in " Morgenroth " 
and '' Abendroth," in the " Crow Caucus," the 
•' Quail," the "August Crickets " and others, shows 
how intimate are the ties which bind him to Nature, 
and with what alert senses he walks abroad. Some- 
times his blank verse seems to be merely prose, or 



BENJAMIN WEST BALL. 2/1 

like a poorly built wall, ready to tumble down ; but 
there are few of his poems which are not pervaded 
with the immortal spirit. 

Why purely intellectual poetry is so little read is 
a problem. Landor, a great man and a great artist, 
is seldom quoted. After New England's immor- 
tal Five, few poets have a better claim than Ball. 
But, like an eagle, his flights are in the upper 
regions ; and the bright and tuneful birds in the trees 
near by attract more attention. Certainly no one can 
read his poem in memory of Emerson, or that rather 
daring but suggestive dialogue between the Gods, 
w^ithout feeling his power of thought and nobility 
of expression. 

Is Fame given to caprice? Perhaps not ; and per- 
haps the drawback with Ball is in the want of sun- 
light in his nature. It is true he is seldom joyous ; 
but on the other hand he is never morbidly sad, nor 
— what is worse — sentimentally melancholy. His 
verse is serious, as life is serious, — as the mighty past 
and the unknown future are serious. Within the 
limits of his temperament he is cheerful, and he often 
seeks to adorn his weighty thought with stately or 
glowing and inspiring words. 

In person he is tall, broad-shouldered, with plain 
yet clear-cut and expressive features, and a look of 
quiet energy in his pale bkie eyes. His large frame 
and resolute face might indicate a man to push his 
way, but in fact he is shy and retiring, and spends 
most of his time away from the busy world. 



2/2 ADELINE D. T. WHITNEY. 



ADELINE D. T. WHITNEY. 

A DELINE D. T. WHITNEY was born in Boston, 
September 15, 1824, was married in the year 
1843 to Mr. Seth D. Whitney, and has since Hved 
in Milton, Mass. Siie pubHshed a poem entitled 
"Footsteps on the Seas" in 1857; " Mother Goose 
for Grown Folks," in 1859; ''Boys at Chequasset," 
in 1862 ; " Faith Gartney's Girlhood," in 1863 ; 
** The Gayworthys," in 1865; '*A Summer in Leslie 
Goldthwaite's Life," in 1866; " Patience Strong's Out- 
ings," in 1868; ''Hitherto," in 1869; " Real Folks," 
in 1872; "We Girls: A Home Story;" "The Other 
Girls;" "Sights and Insights;" "Odd or Even;" 
" Bonnyborough ; " "Homespun Yarns; " also three 
volumes of poems. 

Mrs. Whitney's first works in prose were written for 
young people, but, as often happens with meritorious 
stories of that class, the elders also found them enter- 
taining. Her novels seem to have grown up with her 
youthful characters, and have steadily increased in 
popularity. Their success is mainly owing, as we 
think, to their excellent moral qualities, their free- 
dom from morbid sentiment, and the cheerful and 
practical views of life and lessons of duty they pre- 
sent. The scenes and characters in her book are 
well discriminated, and the dialogues are generally 
spirited and suggestive. Of the sincerity, the noble 
instincts, the womanly refinement manifested in such 
novels as "Hitherto" and "The Gayworthys," too 



THOMAS STARR KING. 273 

much cannot be said. In the art of construction, 
too, the author shows no common skill ; and (what 
is the first, last, and only indispensable requisite) she 
has the power of making her stories interesting from 
the beginning. With this power and this experi- 
ence occasional blemishes of style look very trivial ; 
but elderly and friendly critics, who no longer 
read merely for the sake of the story, cannot help 
regretting them. 



THOMAS STARR KING. 

T^HOMAS STARR KING was born in the city 
^ of New York, December 16, 1824. His father 
was a clergyman, who during the author's boyhood 
lived in Portsmouth, N. H., and afterward in Charles- 
town, Mass. He was a precocious scholar, and began 
at an early age to fit himself for college, but was un- 
able to go on with his course of education on account 
of the straitened circumstances and failing health of 
his father. When his father died, the young man, 
then only fifteen years of age, went into a dry-goods 
store, and aided in the support of the family. All 
branches of study seemed to be in his province. 
He learned modern languages, read metaphysical 
philosophy with avidity, and rambled through litera- 
tures as through pleasant gardens. He taught school 
for a time while still in his minority, served a while 
as a clerk at the navy yard, and in his twenty- first 

iS 



2/4 THOMAS STARR KING. 

year was ordained a minister of the Universalist de- 
nomination in Charlestown, in the church where his 
father had preached. About two years later (1848) 
he became pastor of the HoHis Street Church in 
Boston. His chief energies were given to his ser- 
mons, lectures, and public addresses. His temper 
was enthusiastic, his manners animated and graceful, 
and the expression of his ideas naturally oratorical. 
In a very few years he became widely known and 
admired as a preacher and lecturer. 

In April, i860, Mr. King removed from Boston 
to San Francisco, to become pastor of the Unitarian 
church newly established in that city. His labors 
were not confined to his parish nor to religious 
teaching. The Rebellion having broken out, there 
was a severe struggle in California between the 
friends of the Union on the one side and the friends 
of secession and of a separate empire on the Pacific 
coast on the other. Mr. King entered into this con- 
test with all the ardor of his nature, and addressed 
the people throughout the State. It is believed that 
his efforts were greatly instrumental in maintaining 
the sentiment of patriotism, and binding that remote 
region to the fortunes of the Federal Union. The 
value of such a service at that critical period cannot 
be over-estimated. He was never a very robust per- 
son, and his constant activity wore upon him, until, 
in the prime of his life, he yielded to a sudden attack 
of diphtheria. He died March 4, 1864. 

Mr. King was an enthusiastic lover of the pictur- 
esque in Nature, and fond of reproducing scenery by 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 275 

elaborate word-pictures. The White Mountains par- 
ticularly were his delight. They appeared to have 
been his by right of discovery, or pre-emption. 
Year after year during his summer vacations he ex- 
plored valleys and gorges, and scaled precipices and 
peaks, until he was more familiar with that region 
than the natives themselves. He published in a 
handsome quarto volume, in 1859, " The White Hills: 
Their Legends, Landscapes, and Poetry." The work 
is well illustrated from drawings by M. G. Wheelock. 
It is the most complete Vv^ork of the kind in existence. 
It contains not only the necessary topographical 
information, but a great many descriptive passages 
of rare beauty, and is besides a magazine of appo- 
site quotations. A volume of selections from his 
public speeches was published in 1865. A brief 
but interesting biography of him was written by 
Richard Frothingham, of Charlestown, in 1865. 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 

n AYARD TAYLOR was born in Kennett Square, 
Chester Co., Penn., January 11, 1825. At seven- 
teen years of age, having already some acquaintance 
with languages, he was an apprentice in a printing- 
office in his native county, and contributed verses to 
the newspapers. A collection of these early verses, 
with the title *'Ximena," was published in 1844; 



276 BAYARD TAYLOR. 

after which he went to Europe and travelled over the 
country on foot. On his return he published " Views 
Afoot; Or, Europe as Seen with Knapsack and Staff" 
(1846). He subsequently wrote for the " Literary 
World," and was at intervals a writer for the New 
York " Tribune." His connection with that paper 
continued to the last ; it was his university and 
Alma Mater ; a great many of his books consist of 
letters originally written for it. The titles of his 
books will show the many lands he visited. In 1849 
he published " El Dorado," an account of a trip to 
California and Mexico; in 1854, "Journey to Cen- 
tral Africa;" "Lands of the Saracen;" "Visit to 
India, China, Loo Choo, and Japan." These last 
three volumes record his observations in a series of 
voyages and travels extending over fifty thousand 
miles. 

In 1858 he published "Northern Travel," an ac- 
count of a tour in Sweden, Denmark, and Lapland ; 
in 1859, " Travels in Greece and Russia;" in 1867, 
" Colorado: A Summer Trip; " in 1869, " Byways of 
Europe;" in 1872, " Travels in Arabia;" in 1874, 
" Egypt and Iceland." He attended the picturesque 
millennial celebration of the settlement of Iceland. 

In 1856 he began editing a "Library of Travels," 
in eight volumes ; also a '* Cyclopaedia of Modern 
Travel," in one volume. But his literary labors were 
not confined to travels. The list of his Works 
shows his unwearied industry. He published in 1848 
"Rhymes of Travel, Ballads, etc. ; " in 1851, "A Book 
of Romances, Lyrics and Songs; " in 1854, "Poems 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 277 

of the Orient;" in 1855, "Poems of Home and 
Travel." This last volume contained only such poems 
as the author then wished to acknowledge. ** At 
Home and Abroad" appeared in 1859, and a second 
volume in 1862; "The Poet's Journal," in 1862; 
" Hannah Thurston," a novel, in 1863 ; " The P'or- 
tunes of John Godfrey," in 1864 5 ^ " Collection of 
Poems," in 1865 ; "The Story of Kennett," in 1866; 
" Picture of Saint John," in 1866; " Frithiof's Saga," 
in 1867; "The Ballad of Abraham Lincoln," in 
1869; A new translation of Goethe's "Faust," in 
1870; "Joseph and His Friends," in 1870; "Beauty 
and the Beast," in 1872 ; " The Masque of the Gods," 
in 1872; "Lars: A Pastoral of Norway," in 1873; 
"The Prophet: A Tragedy," in 1874; "A School 
History of Germany," in 1874; "Home Pastorals," 
in 1875 ; " The Echo Club," a book of brilliant paro- 
dies and imitations of poets, in 1876; " The National 
Ode at the United States Centennial Exhibition," in 
1876; "The Boys of Other Countries," in 1876; 
"Prince Deucalion: A Lyrical Drama," in 1878; 
" Studies in German Literature," in 1879; "Essays," 
etc., in 1880. The last two works, edited by George 
H. Boker and Mrs. Taylor, were printed after the 
author's death. 

It would be impossible within our narrow limits to 
give an account of Mr. Taylor's literary activities. 
The fertility of his mind can be inferred from the long 
and varied list of subjects on which it was employed. 
His first wife, to whom he was married in 1850, died 
within a few months. His second wife was Marie 



2/8 BAYARD TAYLOR. 

Hansen, of Gotha, to whom he was married in 
October, 1857. He accompanied Commodore Perry 
in his important mission with the American fleet to 
Japan. He was secretary of legation at St. Peters- 
burg in 1862. He deUvered a course of lectures 
on German literature in Cornell University in 1870. 
In 1877 he was appointed minister to Germany. In 
Berlin his reputation had preceded him, and his 
knowledge of the language and literature gave him a 
position in the German capital which few of his pre- 
decessors in office had enjoyed. He died there 
December 19 of the same year. 

Were it only for his life of enterprise, and for the 
additions he made to our knowledge of the world, 
Mr. Taylor should be held in grateful esteem. But 
he deserves a warmer recognition for his positive 
merits as a w^-iter. His descriptions are clear and 
animated, and his books are weighted with but little 
of the ordinary traveller's burden of trivial personal 
details. His Oriental poems are glowing with color 
and instinct with passion. Aside from " Poems of 
the Orient," he will be chiefly remembered among 
poets for his faithful and admirable translation of 
*' Faust," a work that testifies to his skill, poetic feel- 
ing, and mastery of expression. His faculties and ten- 
dencies were primarily those of a poet, but a life of 
such restless activity was not favorable to the crystal- 
lization of his conceptions, nor to the perfection of 
art. His poems in general will be read with interest 
and mentioned with respect ; but in many of them it 
will be seen that they seldom contain the uplifting 



JULIA CAROLINE RIPLEY DORR. 279 

thought or the newly-created phrases which attest a 
poet's birthright. 

Of the American authors who have risen to emi- 
nence without the aid of classical education, Mr. Taylor 
was the most distinguished, the most broadly accom- 
plished, and best beloved. He was tall, handsome, 
and dignified, and always made an impression wher- 
ever he went. The reader will see a sketch of him 
in Whittier's " Tent on the Beach '* and " The Last 
Walk in Autumn." His life and works form a noble 
model for imitation on the part of aspiring youth. 



JULIA CAROLINE RIPLEY DORR. 

ly A RS. DORR inherits the mingled blood and 
mental characteristics of the P>ench, and of 
the New England Pilgrims. Her father, William Y. 
Ripley, son of a Vermont pioneer, and a lineal 
descendant of Governor Bradford of the Plymouth 
Colony, lived in Charleston, S. C, for some years, 
and there married Zulma De Lacey Thomas, daugh- 
ter of a French refugee from St. Domingo. Their 
daughter, Julia Caroline Ripley, was born February 
13, 1825. Mr. Ripley not long after removed with 
his family to New York, and in 1830 to Rutland, Vt 

Miss Ripley was married in 1847 to the Hon. 
Seneca M. Dorr, of New York, and lived for some 
years in Ghent, Columbia County. It was not until 



2SO JULIA CAROLINE RIPLP:Y DORR. 

after her marriage that her poems and stories saw the 
hght in print. Her early efforts secured immediate 
recognition, and appeared in the best periodicals of 
the time. In 1857 Mr. and Mrs. Dorr removed to. 
Rutland, Vt., and built a beautiful house, known as 
The Maples, and have ever since lived there. 

Mrs. Dorr has written both prose and verse ; but 
her fame will rest chiefly upon her poems, which 
have conspicuous and individual merits. Her novels 
had more than ordinary success, but are now out of 
print; the life of even a good novel is necessarily 
short. Her poems do not aspire to the higher 
regions of imagination, nor are they overweighted 
with philosophy; but they breathe a loving spirit, 
and reveal a supreme sense of beauty, — beauty in 
all the forms of Nature and in the human soul. Her 
versification is always melodious, and nearly always 
without fault. In particular, admiration must be given 
to her sonnets, which are full of feeling in natural 
flow, simply expressed, and always wrought with 
care. Sonnets in which thought and music run in 
parallel lines are not very common. Many poets 
appear to struggle with the rigid limitations, as is 
shown by their forced rhymes, and by what the 
French call enjainbiiient, or the carrying over the 
thought into the following line, and there breaking 
it off with a jolting period. She is very successful 
also in legendary poems, and shows in them both 
descriptive power and dramatic art. She loves the 
scenery and flowers in the region of her home, and 
if one can judge from her poems, she must lead an 
ideal life. 



a no 



JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. 28 1 

Mrs. Dorr's published Works arc " Farmingdalc,'' 
a novel (1856) which reached a tenth edition ; " Sybil 
Huntington," a novel (1869) ; Poems (1871) ; ^t^x- 
piation," a novel (1872) ; " Friar Anselmo and Other 
Poems " (1879) ; " Daybreak," an Easter poem (1882) ; 
"Bermuda" (1884); "Afternoon Songs" (1885); 
-Poems: Complete Edition " (1892). The complete 
edition was most carefully revised, and some of the 
omissions were regretted by her friends. 

Four sons and one daughter, Zulma De Lacey 
Steele, the artist, were born to Mrs. Dorr, and all are 
jivin^:- except a son who died in infancy. The beau- 
tiful dedicatory poem to " S. M. D." shows that her 
husband died about the year 1885. 

In personal appearance Mrs. Dorr is a woman of 
more than average stature, with snow-white hair, and 
with strong, sweet features, on which her friends see 
the expression of the calm, sedate New England 
face, lightened and brightened by the spirit of the 
dramatic, art-loving French. 



JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. 

OHN WILLIAMSON PALMER was born in 
Baltimore, Md., April 4, 1825. He received a 
liberal education, and studied medicine at a school in 
Philadelphia. He went to California in the midst of 
the excitement that followed the discovery of gold, 



J 



282 JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. 

and was city physician of San Francisco in 1849. 
Having made a voyage to China in 1852, he was 
engaged as surgeon on one of the East India Com- 
pany's war steamers, and served through a campaign 
in Burmah. On his return to this country he pub- 
hshed an account of his experiences, entitled '* The 
Golden Dagon ; Or, Up and Down the Irrawaddi." 
He was a contributor to Putnam's, Harper's, the 
** Atlantic Monthly," and other periodicals. His 
papers in the ** Atlantic," mostly upon traits of 
Oriental life, were spirited, faithful, and picturesque 
studies. He wrote a comedy called " The Queen's 
Heart," which was produced in Boston in 1858. 
" The New and the Old " appeared in 1859. In this 
work the characteristics of the miners, and of the 
motley elements that had congregated in California, 
were set forth with graphic power. In i860 he pub- 
lished " Folk Songs," an admirable collection of 
popular poetry. During the Civil War he was en- 
gaged in other than literary pursuits, being attached 
to the cause of the South, and serving it as best he 
could. In 1867 he published a second compilation, 
entitled " The Poetry of Compliment and Courtship." 
He published in 1879 "The Beauties and Curiosi- 
ties of Engraving," and in 1882 "A Portfolio of 
Autograph Etchings." 

Mr. Palmer's present home is in New York. 



RICHARD HENRY STOUDARU. 283 



RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. 

OICHARD HENRY STODDARD was born in 
rV Hingham. Mass., July 2, 1825. His father, a 
shipmaster, was lost at sea, his mother married agam, 
and the youth went to New York to seek employment. 
While engaged in daily labor he read assiduously what 
came in his way; and after a time, having attracted 
the attention of Bayard Taylor and other young men 
interested in literature, stimulated by them he began 
writing for periodicals. A volume of his poems, 
entitled " Footprints," was published in 1849- Later, 
the author regarded the poems as immature, and sup- 
pressed the edition. Another volume of poems was 
published in 1852. Mr. Stoddard early learned what 
trials are in store for the man who attempts to live by 
literary labor, especially by writing poetry. He has 
been glad, as Hawthorne was, and as many others 
have been, to piece out his income by service in 
the custom-house and other public offices, by editing 
books, writing for newspapers, and making himself 
- generally useful " to publishers. His labors appear 
to have been fairly divided between original produc- 
tions andthe kind of work which painters call ''pot- 
boilers." To this learned drudgery, however, he 
brought so much ability, taste, and judgment that 
he gave it an unwonted dignity. 

Mr. Stoddard's original publications (after the two 
early volumes) were " Adventures in Fairy Land 
(1853) ; *' Songs of Summer " (1857) ; " Life of Hum- 



284 RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. 

boldt" (i860); "The King's Bell," a poem (1862); 
''Little Red Riding Hood," in verse (1864); "The 
Children in the Wood," in verse (1865) ; "Abraham 
Lincoln: An Horatian Ode" (1865) ; " Book of the 
East," containing later poems (1867); "Putnam the 
Brave" (1869). His editorial labors have been con- 
stant, and have covered a wide field. The most im- 
portant are the revision of Griswold's once popular 
collections of American literature; "Melodies and 
Madrigals from Old Poets ; " " Late English Poets ;" 
and the Political Writings of General Nathaniel Lyon. 
In his earlier poems there were promising glimpses 
and bright suggestions, although his art was not so 
evident ; but in the " Book of the East " the poet is 
seen to have attained to a fuller and fairer expression 
of his thought. Such poems as " Adsum," " The 
Country Life," and " Abraham Lincoln " may be 
commended without reserve for their genuine feeling, 
power, and finish. 

Mr. Stoddard's wife, Elizabeth Barstow Stoddard 
(born 1823), is a poet of what might be called a mas- 
culine character, and her poems, though never greatly 
popular, have commanded the admiration of thought- 
ful readers. " Mercedes," a dramatic poem, which 
appeared originally in the " Atlantic Monthly," was 
thought by many to have been written by Emerson. 
Any poet might have been glad to own it. She wrote 
also several novels, which critics admired more than 
did the public. 



ADDENDA 

UPON SOME MOSTLY FORGOTTEN POETS. 



WHOEVER undertakes to go through the hterature of 
past centuries with a view to discover noteworthy 
books and to rescue them (temporarily) from obhvion, 
must experience perplexity and disappointment. At times 
the writer has felt an overpowering regret in looking back 
upon his unused material. The authors he had selected 
seemed too few to be fully representative of their age, and 
many of those omitted appeared to have merits not greatly 
below those of the chosen. What if he had, like the man 
in the country proverb, gone through the woods and come 
out with a bundle of crooked sticks ! A collection of colonial 
and provincial books seems a graveyard of literary aspira- 
tions and hopes. It is impossible to be gay in considering 
even the poorest, for a once throbbing heart is buried in 
each. And if every book were a tombstone, we might 
imagine its warning to the living poet or essayist to be that 
given in the familiar line of old epitaphs, — 

" Such as I am so you must be ! " 

The editor and critic of the coming century will be rum- 
ma^insj in the collections of this, and will experience the 



286 ADDENDA. 

depressing sensations which attend all dealings with the 
dead. And what a task he will have ! 

A notable collection, now out of print but accessible in 
libraries, is Kettell's " Specimens of American Poetry," in 
three volumes, published in 1829. The editor apparently 
left nothing in the form of verse unnoticed, so that as a 
whole the work is dreary ; but it contains many things 
which appeal to a reflecting reader. Of the " poets " 
whom he enumerates the best are cited in our Introduc- 
tion. But it may be well to refer to a few other names 
and specimens. Imperfection, lack of inspiration, and 
want of taste are evident in nearly every one ; but the dif- 
ference between the point of view in 1829 and that of 1893 
is instructive. We are constantly warned while reading 
fourteenth century literature that allowances are to be 
made for the unformed state of the language and for the 
inexperience of versifiers. American poets in the colonial 
period were a century behind their English contemporaries, 
and they are fairly entitled to some indulgence. 

The crabbed verses of Cotion Mather, and those of his 
clerical brethren, need not detain us. The ample speci- 
mens in Kettell from Mrs. Anne Bradstreet seem to us 
fresh, melodious, and almost Spenser-like after we have been 
jolted over Mather's wretched metres : — 

" Under the cooling shadow of a stately elm 
Close sat I by a goodly River's side, 
Where gliding streams the rocks did overwhelm 1 
A lonely place with pleasures dignified. 
I once that loved the shady woods so well 
Now thought the rivers did the trees excell, 
And if the sun would ever shine, there I would dwell.'" 

Then we can follow with some pleasure the verses ad- 
dressed to Mrs. Bradstreet by John Rogers, President of 



ADDENDA. 287 

Harvard College. They are not so good as the lady's, — 
in fact, seem rather frisky to modern readers, — ■ but they 
have some merit. 

Benjamin Tompson is among the forgotten, — a Boston 
schoolmaster, and author of a poem on King Phillip's \V'ar : 
the first poem of any mark written by a native. It will be 
remembered that Anne Bradstreet was born in England. 
The poem is a curiosity, but need not detain us. 

John Seccomb, another native, wrote a poem, which was 
published in the "Gentleman's Magazine" (London), in 
1732. Roger Wolcoit, of Connecticut, wrote in verse a 
long narrative of the Pequot War. Benjamin Tolman, an 
able preacher, wrote upon the Translation of Elijah. 
Kettell says that he is " far above his contemporaries in 
refinement of thought and language ; " and he inclines to 
believe that '' had he cherished the Muse with more fond- 
ness and attention, she would have bestowed her favors on 
him with a liberal hand." Doctor Tolman's daughter, 
Jane Turell, made a paraphrase of a psalm and an imita- 
tion of Horace. The Rev. John Adams wrote fluently in 

verse, but without poetic fire. 

« 

In Pennsylvania appeared Thomas Godfrey, who served 
in the expedition against Fort Duquesne. He cultivated 
the Muses, and produced " The Court of Fancy," a smooth 
and tuneful imitation of Chaucer's " House of Fame." His 
friend, Nathaniel Evans, wrote an '' Ode on the Prospect 
of Peace " (1761). It is in the Georgian style, with per- 
sonifications, and sonorous names from mythology and 
ancient geography, — almost rivalling the rumble of Sir 
Richard Blackmore. There are, however, gleams of poetry 
in his lines, with occasional " bits " of melody and evidences 
of idyllic feeling. 



288 ADDENDA. 

Little remains of the keen old tory, Mather Byles, or of 
his emulous townsman Joseph Green, except a few jokes 
and a reputation for pleasant wit. We need not call back 
from the shades Benjmvhn Church or James Allen, whose 
heroics were the talk of Boston. Their verses have all the 
ear-marks of Pope without any part of his genius. As 
Francis Hopkinson's fame is secure by his trembling sig- 
nature of the Declaration of Independence, he may be less 
solicitous as to the fate of the " Battle of the Kegs," and 
of his other mildly facetious poems. Shall we call up 
David Humphreys or Lemuel Hopkins? No; let them 
sleep with their monotonous verse. 

We may pause, however, over the beautiful brief stanzas 
of St. George Tucker, of Virginia : — 

" Days of my youth, ye have glided away ; 
Hairs of my youth, ye are frosted and gray; 
Eyes of my youth, your keen sight is no more ; 
Cheeks of my youth, ye are furrowed all o'er ; 
Strength of my youth, all your vigor is gone ; 
Thoughts of my youth, your gay visions are flown. 

" Days of my youth, I wish not your recall ; 
Hairs of my youth, I 'm (iontent ye should fall ; 
Eyes of my youth, you much evil have seen; 
Cheeks of my youth, bathed in tears you have been ; 
Thoughts of my youth, you have led me astray; 
Strength of my youth, why lament your decay? 

"Days of my age, ye will shortly be past; 
Pains of my age, yet awhile ye can last ; 
Joys of my age. in true wisdom delight; 
Eyes of my age, be religion your light ; 
Thoughts of my age, dread ye not the cold sod ; 
Hopes of my age, be ye fixed on your God." 

We can glance also with pleasure at the happy inspiration 
of Joseph Hopkinson, — 



ADDENDA. 289 

" Hail, Columbia, hap-py land," — 

our national hymn, if we have any. 

We pass over the poems of Mercy Warren (daughter 
of James Otis, the orator), for, beyond smooth versifica- 
tion and good sense, their merits are small ; yet she had 
a great reputation in her day. Royall Tyler appears to 
have been quite constantly before the public with his ready- 
made verse, which recalled in manner only the lighter 
strains of Gay or Pope or Swift. Robert Treat Paine is 
remembered for " Adams and Liberty; " but how the stiff 
lines could have been sung- may puzzle the reader. 

One of the interesting things in Kettell's collection is to 
find verses written in youth by authors who afterward re- 
nounced poetry and became distinguished in other fields. 
There is an early poem by Joseph Story, the celebrated 
jurist, " The Power of Solitude." It is written in the ortho- 
dox ten-syllable measure, and is not half so interesting as 
his later treatises on law. 

George Bancroft, too, had aspirations toward the divine 
art of poetry, — though the reader of his History would 
scarcely suspect it. He wrote a poem upon " The Fairy of 
the Wengern Alp," which, though lacking in the quality of 
imagination necessary to vivify a fairy tale, has some fine 
descriptive passages. The poem recalls the stupendous 
view of the Jungfrau, the Eiger, the White Monk, and their 
dazzling brethren, as presented from the green summit of 
the Wengen ; also the glacier of Grindelwald, the airy fall 
of the Staubbach, and the great hall of Lauterbrunnen. Few 
tourists have given such striking pictures ; and for the sake 
of these we forgive the rather tedious divagation of the 
''fairy" legend. A small volume of Mr. Bancroft's poems 
was published in 1822. 

19 



290 ADDENDA. 

An instance of the transitoriness of fame is given in the 
career of Thomas G. Fessenden. His poems were exceed- 
ingly popular at the beginning of this century, and ranged 
" from grave to gay." He was happiest in light and 
facetious verse ; but some serious pieces, like his " Elegy 
on the Death of Washington," were greatly admired. He 
has now become a shadow of a name. 

John Shaw, in his pensive stanzas upon " An Autumnal 
Plower at Malta," reveals to us a nature keenly alive to the 
feeling of poetry, and makes us see how much beauty is 
continually wasted, not only in falling flowers and leaves, 
but in human lives. But, no ! not wasted ; the life of John 
Shaw, though unknown to succeeding generations, must 
have been a blessing to the circle of which he formed a part. 

Occasionally in following Kettell, our rather prosy guide, 
we come upon a poem or passage which challenges 
our attention. Some such attraction stops us at the " Ro- 
mance " of William B. Walter. It is in Pope's measure, 
of course, but with springy, elastic lines and well chosen 
words. We see that the author had faith in himself, and 
was waiting for posterity and fame. He glances over earth, 
and embraces time past, present, and to come. On goes 
the smoothly moving cohort of heroics, and the reader 
sometimes has hopes. But, no ! they do not carry the 
heights ; they sink, they fall, and here in this region of per- 
petual slumber they rest. 

Among other surprises is to find a poem by Washington 
Irving, "The Falls of the Passaic," the only one, it is said, 
he ever published. It is smooth and often beautiful ; but it 
is evident that he would have won no renown as a poet 
comparable to that which crowned him as the author of 
" The Sketch Book." 



ADDENDA. 29 1 

A similar reflection comes after reading James K. 
Paulding's poem, *'The Backwoodsman." 

A contemporary estimate of Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney 
(see page 86) is instructive. Kettell gives twenty pages to 
specimens of her verse, and ranks her with Mrs. Hemans 
and Bryant. 

Most impressive and pathetic is the thought which comes 
in reading passages of "Yamoyden" by Robert C. Sands. 
It is evident that the author looked on Nature and life 
with ardently appreciative eyes ; that he felt the beauty of 
morning, and the sights and sounds of wood and lake, as 
keenly as did the greatest of our poets. The objective 
elements of poetry are all in his verse, but the creative 
power of the poet was not his. He could sketch what he 
saw, but could not create the before unperceived. His 
soul must have been tortured by the limitations of his 
brain, and by surging emotions he was destined never to 
express. Not a poet, but in full view of a poet's domain ; 
burning with desire, yet unsatisfied ; master in his own soul 
of the realm of Nature, but powerless to take possession 
and show his title. 

Samuel Woodworth will long be remembered by " The 
Old Oaken Bucket," — a poem with a single scene, but 
linked with all memories of country life. Prosaic pumps 
have displaced the simple old-fashioned apparatus, but in 
every boy's mind it is still the bucket " dripping with cool- 
ness " which rises from the well. 

Equally fortunate was Francis S. Key with his " Star 
Spangled Banner." He appears to have written little else, 
but the pulses of Americans will thrill for centuries to come 
when that inspired song is heard. 

And who was Henry Pickering? Does any one know 



292 ADDENDA. 

or read his verse? Yet his poems have much mild beauty, 
quite as much as the poems printed in magazines of to-day. 
Has the world been unjust to Pickering, or is it lenient to 
modern versifiers? 

And Sara Josepha Hale, high-priestess of Apollo, sister 
of the Muses, when the Lady's Book and the gorgeous 
Annual flourished ! It would be vain to attempt an enu- 
meration or an estimate of her tales and her books of verse. 

We must pass over Governor Enoch Lincoln's rural 
" Village " and John C. McCall's " Troubadour," and must 
barely mention the poems of Nathaniel xAppleton Haven. 
Evidently in his day he was considered a poet, for at his 
death in 1826 was published a selection from his Works, with 
a memoir by Professor Ticknor. But the specimens given by 
Kettell are quite inferior to those of many of the \mknovvn 
whose dead and dry remains we are contemplating. 

If beauty, grace, and refined taste were enough to give 
life to poetry, then should George Washington Doane be 
remembered as a poet. But with the exception of a few 
fortunate hymns, such as '' Softly now the light of day," his 
verses are wholly neglected. Still, the reader following 
Kettell, as an antiquarian would follow Old Mortality, must 
pause long enough to sigh over the wreck of so many high 
hopes. 

Kettell now and then is touched by a sudden enthusiasm, 
and then he lifts his voice and prophesies. James A. 
HiLLHOUSE was an object of his admiration, — H^illhouse, 
the author of " Hadad, a Dramatic Poem," and of Judg- 
ment, a Vision ; " and after some preliminary discussion, 
he places Hillhouse among the great masters of poetic art. 
But what has become of Hillhouse? 

Albert G. Greene, of Providence, is posed by Kettell as 



ADDENDA. 293 

a serious poet ; and a solemn extract from a solemn poem is 
printed in evidence. But Greene has a sounder title to 
our regard as the author of an Address to the Weathercock, 
and of the well known ballad of " Old Grimes." 

William H. Bradley, Doctor of Medicine, also of Prov- 
idence, was touched by the fever of imitation, and made 
some stanzas with grotesque and amusing rhymes quite in 
the style of Byron's "■ Beppo." Still, Byron is read and 
Bradley is not. 

In his third volume Kettell approves of Richard H. 
Dana and of James G. Percival, and gives numerous speci- 
mens of their poems. 

Edward Everett was another writer of prose who was 
the author of one fine poem. His " Dirge of Alaric " is 
full of vigor, and is wrought with admirable art. 

It would seem that when oblivion has closed over a poem 
or romance no human power can draw it from its repose. 
Maria \. BRoaKS, of Medford, Mass., wrote a poem enti- 
tled " Zophiel," which was much admired. She was patron- 
ized by Southey, who christened her Maria del Occidente. 
But "Zophiel " passed into the silences, and of the beauti- 
ful Maria only one passionate song survives, — 
" Day in melting purple dying," etc. 

Lately a lady of critical ability, — herself a poet of some 
reputation, — undertook to resuscitate "Zophiel," and to 
interest the public in the forgotten favorite of old days. 
"Zophiel" appeared for a moment, but only as a dim 
shade, and again faded from view. 

One well remembered poem is often enough to preserve 
a name ; and Edward Coates Pinkney, of Maryland, has 
left a "Health" which defies time: — 

*' I fill this cup to one made up of loveliness alone." 



294 ADDENDA. 

The memory of the sentiment Hngers even when the words 
have become dim. 

If ever a mortal needed elbow-room it was John Neal. 
He bustled through the world, and accomplished much, 
such as it was, — many novels, many poems, and much criti- 
cism. He was furiously in earnest, and from his very auda- 
city drew much attention. Kettell calculated (1829) that 
Neal's published writings were enough to fill fifty duodecimo 
volumes ; and he lived long after that, to write. Yet of all 
his novels and of all his poems not one lives to show what 
manner of man he was. Schoolboys remember him on 
declamation days, when they hear his description of the 
" fierce gray bird with a sharpened beak," and their elders 
have a tender memory of his " Birth of a Poet," in which 
are some fine lines. 

Another single poem stands like a monument to Henry 
Ware, Jr., — 

" To prayer ! to prayer ! for the morning breaks, 
And Earth in her Maker's smile awakes," etc. 

It shows us how f:ir back is the beginning of Bryant's welb 
earned fame when we find in Kettell so many of his famil- 
iar and beautiful poems. It is sometimes difficult to believe 
that our favorites were known and admired before 1829, 
Ketteh's specimens are "The Ages," " Thanatopsis," "To 
a Waterfowl," "The Murdered Traveller," "An Indian 
Story," " Hymn to the North Star," " Song of the Stars," 
" Autumn Woods," " The Close of Autumn." 

If there were space, mention might be made of Samuel 
Webber, who wrote " Logan, an Indian Tale," in octosylla- 
bic verse, running as smoothly as Scott's ; of Levi Frisbie, 
whose lines are instinct with feeling ; of Mrs. Little, who 
wrote a poem upon a New England Thanksgiving. 



ADDENDA. 295 

Occasionally the writer is tempted to confess an error of 
judgment, a short -coming, in respect to some poet who 
should have had a place in this collection. If there is such 
an error, it is in regard to John G. C. Braixerd. Reading 
in Kettell once more Brainerd's " Fall of Niagara," it seems 
poor amends to quote, but it is the only amends left. This 
is the poem : — 

" The thoiii^hts are strange that crowd into my brain 
While I look upward to thee. It would seem 
As if God poured thee from His ' hollow hand,' 
And hung His bow upon thine awful front, 
And spoke in that loud voice which seemed to him 
Who dwelt in Patmos for his Saviour's sake 
* The sound of many waters,' and had bade 
Thy flood to chronicle the ages back, 
And notch His cent'ries in the eternal rocks. 

" Deep calleth unto deep. And what are we 
That hear the question of that voice sublime ? 
Oh, what are all the notes that ever rang 
From war's vain trumpet by thy thund'ring side ? 
Yea, what is all the riot man can make 
In his short life, to thy unceasing roar ? 
And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him 
Who drowned a world, and heaped the waters far 
Above its loftiest mountains ? A light wave 
That breaks, and whispers of its Maker's might." 

His poem is little less than sublime. And his " Epi- 
thalamium," how simple and exquisite ! 

*' I saw two clouds at morning. 
Tinged with the rising sun," etc. 

His autumn meditation catches the eye : — 

" The dead leaves strew the forest walk, 
And withered are the pale wild flowers," etc. 



2g6 ADDENDA. 

Every line reveals the soul of a poet. Yes, Brainerd de- 
serves an honored place, rather than mere mention in the 
Addenda. Born in New London, Conn., in 1796, he was 
an early victim to consumption, and died in his native 
place in 1828. Whittier edited his poetical remains with 
loving care. They are not many, but they prove his birth- 
right, and ought to preserve his memory. 

*' Sunrise from Mount Washington" by Rufus Dawes. 
Is this poem known to any of the legion of versifiers of our 
time? The Muse of Dawes is sometimes a trifle fantastic, 
but few word-painters of scenery have surpassed this vivid 
picture. 

Other names appear. Sumner Lincoln Fairfield was 
mentioned with admiration sixty years ago. His possibili- 
ties were thought to be great. And Hannah F. Gould, — 
her verses were in all the newspapers and in all the reading 
books. 

As to Longfellow, Kettell gives him a place, but judi- 
ciously forbears comment upon his merits. " He is now in 
Europe," says the editor. 

George D. Prentice, the witty editor of the Louisville 
"Journal," is recalled, with his strings of easy rhymes and 
his amateurish worship of beauty. Prentice was once a 
name and a power, and made and unmade reputations. 

The dainty N. P. Willis is highly praised by Kettell, not 
without caution as to the need of sharp revision of careless 
verses. There are many specimens given, mostly of '' Scrip- 
ture Scenes," and no end of good wishes. 

The editors of that early time — especially in Boston — ■ 
appear to have been mostly poets. We can only give a 
few names : James W. Miller, of the Boston *' Literary 
Gazette ; " James G. Brooks, of the New York '' Mornmg 



ADDENDA. 297 

Courier ; " Frederic S. Hill, of the Boston " Daily Adver- 
tiser ; " Charles J. Locke, editor of the Boston " Spectator ; " 
and Oliver C. Wyman, of Boston, a writer for newspapers. 

Emma C. Embury, the fair " lanthe," was one of the circle 
of writers who sustained the fashion-plate magazines : how 
familiar their names to men of sixty ! 

Willis Gaylord Clark was one of the editors of the old 
Knickerbocker Magazine, a periodical which absorbed more 
than its editors created. 

More forgotten names arise. Here is Grenville Mellen, 
of whom Kettell says : " He is a writer of fertile imagina- 
tion, and is peculiarly happy in the expression of tender 
and delicate sentiment." 

William B. O. Peabody, a clergyman of Springfield, 
Mass., wrote poems which once were quoted. Most elderly 
readers remember his " Hymn of Nature," — 

" God of the earth's extended plains," etc. 

In the poems of Joseph H. Nichols there are passages 
which might be worth quoting, although the name is wholly 
lost. 

But here is George Lunt, a scholar, a poet, and an able 
man, who lived on into our own times. He had the poetic 
instinct, and he wrought his verses with care. If he did 
not achieve fame it was not for want of aspiration. His 
verse was always creditable and sometimes admirable ; but 
the great works which Fame crowns were not his. 

We pass over George P. Morris, so long the associate of 
Willis, and the Rev. William Croswell, with his sweet 
and saintly thoughts. We see the name of Richard Henry 
Wilde, and remember his pensive stanzas, beginning, 
" My life is like a summer rose." 



298 ADDENDA. 

We come upon the name of Whittier, the last in the 
third volume ; and though he was then young, with his work 
and his renown all before him, it is pleasing to read the 
opinion of Kettell that '' his verses show a more than com- 
mon maturity of powers." 

Adieu to Samuel Kettell ! Who could take up his task 
where he left it, and give us specimens from the innumer- 
able verse-makers since 1829? 

It has been stated before that often no clear line of divi- 
sion is possible between the authors chosen for this work 
and those who have been omitted. Among the latter are 
some whose absence will be regretted by many. One is 
Jones Very, a rare and delicate genius who ought to be 
better known. Another is David A. Wasson, a man of 
varied powers, and the author of strong and stimulating 
verse. In conception he is among the great ; in execution 
he is faulty almost beyond remedy. He attains to conven- 
tional measure and rhyme by evident effort, and few of his 
pieces can be read melodiously. He was not master of 
versification, but was enslaved and often crippled by it. 
Those who read for the thought will not mind these de- 
fects ; but the defects are a fatal bar to popularity, and, in 
the end, to recognition among the accepted poets. Mr. 
Wasson was also an essayist of the school of Emerson, and 
was held in high esteem by a large circle of admirers. 

Another of the Emersonian group was John Weiss, a bril- 
liant man, who wrote the Life of Theodore Parker, and did 
other excellent work. 

A friend reminds us of a notable omission in this retro- 
spect, — that of Isaac McLellan, a poet still living, who was 
born in Portland, Me., in 1806, and was associated in early 
days as a writer with N. P. Willis, and with C. Gaylord 



ADDENDA. 299 

Clarke of the " Knickerbocker." His life has been full of 
literary activity, and the respect in which he is held shows 
that he has written well. To outlive early fame is almost like 
moving away from one's shadow. Yet how rarely poetry 
survives even half of man's allotted three- score-and-ten ! 

The novel is necessarily ephemeral, and very few writers 
of fiction are remembered beyond their generation. Were 
all the authors of this class included, the size of this volume 
would be doubled. Many meritorious writers of historical 
and other works are omitted for the reason that they have 
not left any permanent mark upon literature. No man 
makes such a mark except by virtue of some individual, 
characteristic qualities of style. The more closely a writer 
follows conventional forms the sooner oblivion falls upon 
him. 

After more than thirty years' reading, and with a sincere 
desire to choose the best, it is with difhdence that the 
writer pens the last word. There are so many things which 
remain in doubt. Another editor might omit many of the 
'' Builders " and bring in as many others. But, on the 
whole, for a well-read public of average intellect and taste, 
the writer believes this to be a fair selection, and perhaps 
as good as could be made within the present limits. 



INDEX. 



Adams, John - • 
Adams, William T. 
Alger, William R. • 
Allston, Washington 
Ames, Fisher . . 
Audubon, John James 



Ball, Benjamin West 
Bancroft, George . • 
Barlow, Joel . . = • 
Beech er, Henry Ward 
Bird, Robert M. . . 
Boker, George H. . 
Brooks, Charles Timothy 
Brovvnson, Orestes A. 
Bryant, William Cullen 
Bushnell, Horace . • 



Gary, Alice .... 
Channing, W^illiam EUery 
Child, Lydia Maria . 
Clarke, James Freeman 
Cooper, James Fenimore 
Cranch, Christopher P. 
Curtis, George William 



Dana, Richard H. . . 
Dana, Richard H., Jr. 
Dorr, Julia C. R. • • 
Drake, Joseph Rodman 
Draper, John William 



Page 

47 
266 
256 
64 
57 
66 



269 
loS 

53 
189 
126 

255 
194 
125 
88 
"5 



Dwight, John Sullivan 
Dwight, Timothy . • 

Edwards, Jonathan . 
Ellis, George Edward . 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo 
Everett, Edward . • 



238 

67 

118 

159 
82 

187 
261 

81 

207 

279 

95 

183 



Page 
192 

52 

40 
205 
120 

91 



Fields, James T 217 

Franklin, Benjamin ... 44 

Frothingham, Octavius B. . 250 

Fuller, Margaret .... 161 



Godwin, Park 


210 


Greene, Geo. Washington . 


171 


Hale, Edward E. . . • 


243 


Halleck, Fitz-Greene . • 


96 


Hamilton, Alexander . . 


55 


Hawthorne, Nathaniel . 


127 


Hedge, Frederic Henry . 


131 


Higginson, Thos. Wentwort 


h 259 


Hildreth, Richard . . . 


• 147 


Hillard, George S. . • . 


. 150 


Holland, Josiah G. . . • 


■ 23T 


Holmes, Oliver Wendell 


• 152 


Hopkins, Mark . . . ■ 


• 117 


Howe, Julia W' ard . • • 


. 228 


Irving, Washington . . 


• 73 



302 



INDEX. 



Jefferson, Thomas . 
Judd, Sylvester . . . 



Kennedy, John Tendleton 
King, Thomas Starr . . 

Leland, Charles G. . . . 

Longfellow, Henry W . . 

Lowell, James Russell . . 

Lowell, Robert T. S. . . . 



Mann, Horace . . . 
Marsh, George Perkms 
Melville, Herman . . 
Mitchell, Donald G. . 
Motley, John Lothrop 

Palfrey, John Gorham 
Palmer, John W. 
Park, Edwards A. . 
Parker, Theodore . 
Parkman, P'rancis . 
Parsons, Thomas W. 
Parton, James . . 
Paulding, James K. 
Peabody, Andrew P. 
Percival, James Gates 
Phillips, Wendell . 
Pierpont, John . . 
Poe, Edgar Allan . 
Porter, Noah ... 
Prescott, William IL 



Page 
49 

195 

97 

273 

264 

135 

218 
211 



112 

233 
248 
201 



100 
281 

164 
252 
230 

239 
62 

181 
98 

175 
78 
167 
174 
101 



QuiNCY, Edmund 
Quincy, Josiah . 



Read, Thos. Buchanan . 

Sargent, Epes .... 
Saxe, John Godfrey . . 
Sedgwick, Catharine M. . 
Sigourney, Lydia Huntley 
Simms, William Gil more 
Sprague, Charles , . 
Stoddard, Richard H. 
Story, William W. . . 
Stowe, Harriet Beecher 
Street, Alfred Billings 
Sumner, Charles . . 

Taylor, Bayard . . 
Thoreau, Henry D. 
Trumbull, John . . . 
Tuckerman, Henry T. 



Ware, William . . . 
Wayland, Francis . > 
Webster, Daniel . . 
Whipple, Edwin P. 
White, Richard Grant 
Whitman, W^alt . . . 
Whitney, Adeline D. T 
Whittier, John G. . . 
Willis, Nathaniel P. . 
Winthrop, Robert C. . 
Wirt, William . . . 
Woolsey, Theodore D wight 



Page 

149 

59 

245 

199 

209 

85 
86 

^33 

87 
283 
225 
184 
172 
178 

275 

213 

51 

197 

107 

106 

69 

227 
247 

235 
272 

143 
140 

157 
60 

"3 



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